The Center for Community Support and Research (CCSR) at Wichita State University is beginning a new Self-Help Services Program that will provide Medicaid providers and recipients greater access to no-cost and low-cost self-help groups in Kansas.

The program is in partnership with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services and Kansas Health Solutions. It will help provide access to more than 1,800 local self-help groups and 1,000 national self-help organizations.

Self-help groups are available for a variety of issues such as addictions, physical health concerns, parenting, mental health, caregiving and disabilities.

CCSR will provide access to self-help groups and help educate Medicaid providers about the diversity of groups available.

“Most health and human service providers are aware of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step groups. What many do not realize is that there are groups in nearly every community for nearly every type of stressful or difficult life situation,” said CCSR director Scott Wituk. “Groups provide support, information, and also help advocate for their issue. Numerous outcome studies have suggested they can be very beneficial.”

As part of the initial kick-off to the Self-Help Services Program, CCSR and self-help groups were highlighted in the Kansas Health Solutions newsletter and presented at the Annual Behavioral Health Conference in Overland Park and Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved Conference in Wichita.

Future activities will include:

• on-site training to Medicaid providers that want to assist self-help groups or help their clients access groups
 
• online access to self-help groups
 
• additional educational presentations at health and human service conferences
 
• assistance to self-help groups

• evaluation of the program’s efforts

“We have had a great start to this program, and it builds on our 25-year history as a statewide self-help group clearinghouse,” Wituk said. “We have a lot more work ahead of us as we look to integrate self-help into the Medicaid system, but it is really exciting and personally rewarding to me for CCSR to have a new program for self-help groups.”