About Our Director and Board of Directors

Executive Director, Joan Blundall, MS, HCA

In her thirty years in the mental health field, Ms. Blundall has published many articles and chapters of text books on issues of mental health, rural service provision, and health care financing. Her work has been featured by the print and television media. She represents Iowans on the Consumer Advocate Panel and the Bureau of Rural Health and Primary Care as a gubernatorial appointee.

She has helped organizations expand community and volunteer networks in rural areas during the farm crisis and following natural disasters. She has been called to Washington D.C. regarding needs of the underserved. Ms. Blundall submitted a report to the Governor of Iowa on the financial condition of Community Mental Health Centers. Ms. Blundall consults with communities on fund-raising, strategic planning, operations management, HIPPA regulations, network development, and resource acquisition.

As Executive Director, Ms. Blundall is committed to increasing health literacy in the area of depression and other mental health issues.

Board of Directors:

• CeCe Arnold
  I choose to direct my efforts toward improving the physical and social health of rural Iowans. I enjoy connecting people of varying backgrounds, talents, and skills while sharing a desire to make life better for rural people. I am a licensed mental health counselor and interested in eliminating the stigma of mental illness and encouraging efforts that improve mental health.
  
  Higher Plain, Inc. has addressed issues that are also priorities of mine. Knowing Joan personally and professionally for five years, I have observed her high level of professionalism and ability to envision ways to improve people's lives based on up-to-date information. In addition, she is adept at forecasting impacts and developing creative responses to voids in service.As a result, I believe the work produced will continue to be relevant and have a positive impact on rural people.
  
  I am proud to be on the board of Higher Plain, Inc. I am impressed that the tool kits are not only comprehensive but in a format not complicated to use. With the high incidence of depression is most important that all of those impacted have best practice information at their finger tips.
  
  
• Phil Streigel
  I love my work as a private practice mental health clinician, and I plan to continue in that role. Research is clearly demonstrating that healthy relationships allow for greater emotional and physical well-being. I am especially interested in new models of therapy that allow us to nuture our selves, our partners, our friends, and our children in ways that relationships transform and grow.
  
  I am extremely interested in the development of systems to deliver mental health care in rural Iowa. I am a rural Iowan, and I've witnessed the distress of my family, friends, and neighbors as economic and cultural forces have strained the capacity of Iowa communities to care for their own. When I was approached by Joan to be on the Board of Directors, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to support care for those of us who carry such invisible diseases as depression, anxiety disorders, and psychosis.
  
  I've shared the Beyond Depression Toolkits with colleagues, and we agree that they are the best educational tools we've seen. The patient toolkit is loaded with concise information on the nature of depression, treatment options, and self-care. The other toolkits provide family, community members, and professionals essential information to interact with the depressed individual to improve treatment outcomes. The Toolkits have made a difference in the way that I educate my clients about depression.
  
  
• Michael Hartley
  After completing my doctoral degree in Rehabilitation Counseling Education, I plan to work as an assistant professor. My research interests are related to the influence of disability rights and culture on rehabilitation counseling practice. I am on The Higher Plain's Board of Directors to improve my own awareness of services for people with depression and, hopefully, to improve these services. I am excited about the chance to improve awareness and attitudes toward depression. I am impressed with the Beyond Depression Toolkits. I think they provide an excellent resource for people with depression, their families, their communities, and clinicians. I would be excited to see them disseminated into medical settings.
  
  
• Amy Bradfield
  I am pursuing an advanced degree in Nursing and Health Care Practice, with the ultimate goal of becoming a Certified Geriatric Nurse Practitioner. This will enable me increase access to health care in Medical Shortage Areas.
  
  It is exciting to be on the Board of Directors of Higher Plain Inc. because of my undergraduate degree in psychology and my interest in behavioral health care, particularly because depression co-occurs with chronic health conditions. Board experience helps me better understand the non- profit world and allows me to contribute to the quality of health services.
  
  The toolkits are comprehensive and easy to use. As a peer reviewer, I have seen them go through many rewrites in order to insure that information is in a format that is attractive, helpful and accurate. Each of the toolkits have been extensively reviewed by members of the groups for whom they have been written.
  
  
• Rick Fleshin
  My experience in health care for the last 35 years has included trauma, Internal Medicine, the military system, Geriatrics, Health Promotion, and Public Health. The lack of parity for mental health/mental illness, the lack of available mental health care, and the lack of connection in western society of physical and mental health make this a fertile area for positive change. Mental Health issues span all areas from pediatrics to geriatrics and from acute to chronic. The Health Care Delivery System (it isn't about Health, it doesn't Deliver, it isn't a System and no one Cares) is so broken that I am beginning to believe that it may have to fail before we can fix it. In the meantime, we all have to try.
  
  I am excited to be able to contribute in my own small way in helping guide this effort. The work of Higher Plain is groundbreaking in that it has the potential of not only meeting a great deal of those unmet needs, but also mending the very system that has failed.

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The Higher Plain, Inc. || 680 Garfield Rd. || West Branch, IA 52358 || Phone: 319-643-5628 || Email us.