Foundation’s Sushma Sharma to receive NAMI Mental Health Award

Dr. Sushma Sharma, our own DFW Hospital Council (DFWHC) Foundation director of population health research, was announced this week as a surprise recipient of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Texas award as the 2020 Mental Health Professional of the Year.

NAMI Texas is an alliance of more than 600 local affiliates who work within the state to raise awareness and provide education that was not previously available to those in need. They work to advocate, listen and improve the lives of people with mental illness and their loved ones.

Dr. Sushma has been instrumental in coordinating the DFWHC Foundation’s Mental Health First Aid program which provides eight-hour public education courses through role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to offer help and connect persons to the appropriate professional care. The program set a goal of training 10,000 North Texans in the rural counties of Ellis, Erath, Grayson, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell and Wise. To date, more than 9,000 residents have participated in the program.

“It was a wonderful surprise to receive this award,” said Dr. Sharma. “We are thrilled to be able to conduct this important work and inspire a broad range of people now able to identify the warning signs of mental illness. So many have worked together as a team to deliver this valuable program to the community and I am thankful to have worked with them this year.”

The 2020 NAMI Texas Awards will be presented during its Annual Business Meeting on November 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., CDT. This year’s presentation will be virtual.

You can register here.