As leaders examine solutions to workforce shortages in behavioral health, many are also thinking about how to do so in an inclusive way that fits the needs of the people they serve. “Historically,” says Dr. Matthew Edwards, “we've created systems and asked people to be our partners.” “That's not really
There’s been much guesswork in determining the call volume 988 will experience, especially calls it could divert from 911. Americans make 240 million 911 calls per year, and behavioral health experts believe 988 could deflect at least 10%. This estimate comes, in part, from a Treatment Advocacy Center report highlighting
Psychiatrist Joe Parks, M.D., says most states have a behavioral health system that’s “underfunded and understaffed.” Dr. Parks is the medical director of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. He’s also the former director of Medicaid in Missouri. During his tenure as state Medicaid director, he found that people with
When Pierluigi Mancini and his family navigated the behavioral healthcare system in Atlanta in the ‘80s, they faced barriers. Not because of language, though they’d recently moved from Colombia to the United States, but culturally. “My mother, who speaks three languages and has lived on three different continents, struggled to
Annie Murdock sits at her computer monitoring multiple conversations at the Kansas Suicide Prevention Head Quarters (KSPHQ). She notices a particularly challenging and emotionally intense chat that a KSPHQ chat responder is engaged in. Immediately following this particular chat, Murdock hops on the phone with the crisis worker to provide
Nearly a year before the Covid pandemic began, behavioral health crisis professionals became physically co-located at the Tucson Police Department’s 911 call center. However, in March 2020, as communities started to implement physical distancing requirements to halt the spread of the virus, Johnnie Gasper and his colleagues were uncertain what
In anticipation of 988—the three-digit number for mental health, substance use, and suicidal crisis telecom companies must make live by July 16, 2022—communities throughout the United States are examining their crisis systems. “They want to ensure there are rapid and appropriate responses in place that match people’s needs,” says Amy
Gregg Graham says there’s a vital moment for any person experiencing a substance use disorder that can positively alter their trajectory. “It’s when their desire for change and access to care intersect,” he says. “If the first happens without the latter, you’ve lost an opportunity to save a life.” Graham
Imagine your first appointment as a psychiatrist is in a high-security prison mental health ward. As if that is not daunting enough, add to it the challenge of caring for people who are not in the prison system but cannot be managed in a closed acute ward and are admitted
Across the nation, the Covid emergency and increasing dialogue on police reform and racial justice have converged to propel the reformation of crisis systems to better meet people’s needs. “That includes improving how our communities support people experiencing mental health, substance use, and suicide crises, but also “quality of life”
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