Kelechi Ubozoh advocates for proactive family preparation through psychiatric advance directives and legal tools to navigate mental health emergencies more effectively, emphasising the importance of family involvement and caregiver support.
Kelechi Ubozoh says families facing a psychiatric crisis need a plan before the emergency begins, not after. Drawing on her own experience and her work co-authoring “What I Wish My People Had Known, The Psychiatric Green Book: A Guide for Black Folks”, she argues that preparation can give relatives more control at a moment when they may otherwise feel shut out and overwhelmed.
One of the most useful tools, Ubozoh says, is a psychiatric advance directive, or PAD: a document that sets out treatment preferences for a future crisis. The American Psychiatric Association says PADs can help preserve autonomy, improve communication with clinicians and support continuity of care. It also notes that only 25 states have specific PAD laws, although all states allow some form of medical advance directive. Northwestern University and NAMI likewise describe PADs as a way to name trusted decision-makers and spell out preferred care in advance.
Ubozoh also stresses the importance of a release-of-information form, because without permission hospitals may not be able to share details with family members. If a loved one is admitted without those papers in place, she says relatives should find the hospital and show up consistently, including every day if possible, because visible support can affect how a patient is treated. Once there, she recommends asking direct questions about comfort, care and whether family members can speak with the doctor, while also putting key requests in writing so they become part of the medical record.
She is equally blunt about the toll on caregivers. Families often focus so intensely on the person in crisis that they ignore their own health, Ubozoh says, even though they may need therapy or a support group of their own. That focus on practical, step-by-step help is part of why she and BEAM founder Yolo Akili Robinson structured the Green Book around checklists. The book is available on a pay-what-you-can basis through BEAM, with free checklists for families who want to start with the basics.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
