The Dialogues on Mental Health Records Project provides a platform to address the challenges of managing historical public mental health records through a series of nationwide convenings. These convenings will bring together people from different geographic regions, disciplines, and life experiences.

Historical public mental health records include administrative and patient records with identifiable health information about individuals from 50 years following their death. These records are crucial for family history research and our collective understanding of the historical impact of public institutions. But the records require careful management due to their sensitive nature.

Many state hospitals in the United States were established in the late 1800s and were often deeply connected to their local communities. People would live, work, and engage in recreational activities on the grounds. State hospitals were also at the center of many historical movements including segregation and desegregation, deinstitutionalization, major medical breakthroughs, and a social movement of people with lived experience with mental illness fighting for their rights. This complex social, medical, and political history is often flattened into ghost stories of haunted asylums, contributing to stigma against people who receive care in state hospitals.    

The outcome of the Dialogues on Mental Health Records Project will be a community of practice and a comprehensive publication designed to facilitate ongoing dialogue among key stakeholders across the nation. 

Contact the project director to learn how to get involved.