KINE 4353 Cumulative Experience

Stakeholder Interview Sample Questions

Please use these questions as a guide for your stakeholder interview. Some of these questions might
not apply to your project, so it is acceptable to make changes to the questions as needed.

1. What are the “best things” about your community?

The best thing about the community that NAMI serves is that is so diverse because mental
illness can affect anyone of any social status/race/ethnicity/religion. We get to meet and
interact with so many different people from so many different facets of life and it shows us that
we are all connected to each other in one way or another.
2. What are the major challenges facing your community?
One of the biggest challenges I believe we face in our community is stigma. Stigma has inhibited
people for years when they try to get help either because they are scared of what others may
say about them, or because of what they may think of themselves. This is why NAMI does
presentations we call “ending the silence”
3. Do you think the community as a whole is aware of these locally available services?
Obviously not everyone in the DFW area is aware of NAMI and what NAMI does and I think that
inhibits the services we are able to provide. However NAMI is very good with trying to reach out
to many different communities like public schools, universities, churches, etc.
4. What suggestions do you have for health-related organizations to work together to provide
better services and improve the overall health of the area population?
I think we need to work together with more clinical services so that we can be able to work
together to help people with their mental health issues. When clinics/hospitals discharge
patients they usually
5. Where do people find out what health services are available in the area?
I believe most people turn to the Internet to help find different health services here in their
community because it is what is most convenient and the fastest. If they ever need to find a
clinic or a hospital closest to them they can just Google the information they need.
6. Where do you think people turn for trusted health information?
I believe people turn to the internet for “trusted” health information as well because of
websites like web-md and again because of how easy it is to Google things and how accessible
the internet is now with smartphones, tablets, and computers.
7. What would help to remove barriers that may be affecting the use of local health services by the
community as a whole?
The biggest barrier that is in the way of my community seeking out the healthcare they need an
deserve is stigma. Stigma prevents so many people around the world from seeking mental
health care because we have been programmed not to talk about it, that it’s not “real”, that it
will just blow over. This is why NAMI holds “Ending the Silence” seminars and presentations so
that we can learn the facts on mental illness.
8. How are low-income and/or minority populations in the community impacted differently by
these potential needs?
Through study’s we have seen throughout the years we have seen that minorities are faced with
mental illness stigma more than others. Being a Latina, growing up in a Mexican household,
mental illness was never something that was discussed throughout our lives because we had
other things to worry about. As a single mom, we sometimes had to worry about food and other
items so something as “trivial” as mental health would not be something we worried about.
Latina women are taught at an early age to put their loved ones/family before themselves. The
family always comes first and this builds to the mental health issues because we spend less and
less time on ourselves. This is why I am happy NAMI reaches out to minority communities and
even conducts seminars in Spanish.
9. If you were to give one piece of advice to improve the health of the community, what would it
be? Is there other advice you would offer?
No problem is too small. Our brain is an organ and if our brain is unwell then we should seek
help in the same urgency as we would if our stomach was unwell. We like to downgrade our
mental health because it’s nothing you can see. There is no easily found “proof” of a mental
illness. There is no big cut or ulcer or blockage that we can easily identify it is all based on
description, but that doesn’t mean it is not real. Seek help whenever you can because the longer
you wait, the worse it can get and that helps no one.