Supporting Advocacy Efforts
Families can be effective advocates for improvements to the mental health system.

Understanding systems advocacy
People living with schizophrenia and other severe and persistent mental illnesses can face many barriers to receiving care in the mental health system.
Families often act as advocates for their loved ones to help them get the care they need. This is known as individual advocacy. But families can also advocate for broader changes to the mental health system that will improve the services provided to everyone. This is known as systems advocacy.
Systemic advocacy often means sharing your experiences with different levels of government, professional associations, non-profit organizations, and the media to suggest improvements in mental health, housing, justice, education, and other systems that will benefit people living with severe and persistent mental illnesses.