LANSING, Michigan (WLNS) – More than 40% of people in the United States in 2020 who had mental health issues did not receive the help they needed due to lack of resources. Advocates gathered at the State Capitol to meet lawmakers in hopes of securing more funding and making mental health a priority.

Vicky Mennare is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Michigan. She says the foundation “wants to do everything we can to reduce this suicide rate. And being here today is one of those things that we can do.

Advocates from their own personal experiences shared their stories with lawmakers, aiming to get them to pay for programs to help people like Jane Trestain’s son, Jake.

Trestain says, “For me personally, my son Jake died by suicide in November 2018, and after he passed I knew from the circumstances in which he died that something had to be done with public policy and that there had to be some changes made.

One thing Jane and others plan to introduce to lawmakers is transitioning The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to a three-digit number, much like dialing 911, it would be 988.

Mennare mentions that while the 10-digit number is great, “the 3-digit number 988 will be easier to remember and quicker for people who might be going through a mental health crisis.”

Statistics show that suicide is the 10^and leading cause of death in Michigan. It hits close to home for many parents who have lost their children, like Tom and Holly Ram, who lost their son to suicide.

He says “my wife Holly talks to people all the time on the phone trying to get them to understand the difficulties with a child who has a mind and how to deal with it. Because it is also a parental problem. That’s how you raise a child with depression.

Defenders like the Rams and others want everyone to know that if you need help, you can always reach out. Holly Ram goes on to say, “It’s normal not to be well. and I think most people face it. and hiding only adds to the anxiety.

If you or someone you know needs help, the suicide prevention lifeline is always open.

When: Working session of the school board of the canton of Manheim, March 10.

What happened: Joni Lefever, Director of Student Services, presented two programs focusing on mental health and wellbeing through in-depth sessions, supporting students as well as parents and guardians. If approved at the March 17 voting meeting, sessions would begin at the end of the month.

why it matters: This would be an addition to the mental health services the district offers to support students and parents in the school community, as the pandemic has shown an increased need for these services.

Program details: Compass Mark’s “Positive Actions” is an eight-session program designed to promote positive mental health and well-being. It would be used to serve third graders, as well as middle school students. The cost of the program is $960. Minding Your Mind’s “Just Talk About It” is a one-session interactive presentation and introduction to mental health, designed to train parents, guardians and young people on how to recognize the warning signs of stress, anxiety, depression and crisis. The cost is $500.

Quoteable: “It’s great to be proactive instead of reactive. I’m excited to see it implemented,” said Board Vice Chair April Weaver.

Recruitment: The board received a presentation from Donna Robbins, district chief operating officer, with staffing recommendations for the upcoming school year. Due to district growth, several schools require additional staff. The final proposed budget costs for the endowment will be on the agenda for the council business session in April. This next session will also include a proposal from Superintendent Robin Felty regarding the 2022-23 tax rate, which has not been determined.

Transport: The district still suffers from a shortage of bus drivers, which Matt Gillis, director of transportation, shared with the council. Two full-time buses have recently been phased out. “Drivers are leaving for full-time positions, they’re leaving the area or retiring,” he said. In an effort to recruit more drivers, the district plans to hold a “drive the bus” event at the district administration campus.

And after: The school board of the Canton of Mannheim will meet on March 17 for its regular meeting.

Southeastern Oklahoma State University offers a unique approach to mental health services through the Learn to Live program. Learn to Live is an online forum that is available 24/7 and remains confidential to the user.

This service is free for all SOSU students. To use this service, visit learnedolive.com/partners. Use the code “SAVAGESTORM” to receive access to the program. Learn to Live is 100% free for any Southeast student. Wellness Coordinator and Clinical Advisor Debra Fulenchek encourages students to take advantage of this opportunity. “It’s so accessible, and it’s free for students,” Fulenchek said. “Students can use it multiple times whenever they want. It’s a great tool. »

Students can receive live coaching through Learn to Live. This is offered by appointment only. Appointments are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with an unlimited number of appointments. Appointments are made by phone, text or email.

In addition to online coaching, there are online video lesson plans. To get started, you complete an assessment to help you determine which lesson plan is right for you. Once you choose a lesson, it will guide you through video work on the specific topic. Currently available topics are Social Anxiety, Depression, Stress, Anxiety and Worry, Insomnia and Substance Abuse. This tool is a self-paced lesson plan and is available 24/7.

Learn to Live also has an option to receive “mindful moments” which are text messages throughout the week. These messages are words of encouragement sent directly to your cell phone.

Mental health matters. “Counseling is good at different times and for different people,” Fulenchek continued, “Everyone goes through tough times.”

Remember, you are not alone. Learning to live is totally confidential. If you prefer to receive counseling on campus, this is also available free of charge to students. Contact Debra Fulencheck at [email protected] for more information.

MILWAUKEE, WI – After a violent start to the year, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowleyalongside the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, will join Dr. Ramel Kweku Smith, PHD, LP tomorrow, Thursday, March 10, at 10 a.m. at Wisconsin Black Historical Museum for a discussion on normalizing conversations around mental wellness.

The event is the county executive’s first Community Health and Healing Series which will focus on connecting residents to mental health resources and breaking down barriers to services. The series will visit communities and neighborhoods deeply affected by the pandemic and increased violence.

“This is a difficult time for our communities across the county. There are people in our neighborhoods who have unmet mental health and behavioral health needs – many of which have been ignored for generations. We need to heal our community and move forward with a plan to meet the needs of our most vulnerable residents,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “The violence on our streets, the increase in overdose deaths and the overall impact on residents’ quality of life are a direct result of their needs not being met. I have spent my life fighting for resources, fighting for fairness, and fighting for our most needy neighborhoods. The Health and Healing series brings the message and services directly to the doorstep of the community. We focus on engaging some of the most vulnerable residents in a discussion about what they need to live a full and successful life. »

According to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, there were 637 drug-related deaths in 2021, an increase of more than 200 deaths from overall drug-related death data from 2018. Additionally, After suffering 25 homicides in January alone, the Medical Examiner’s Office warned that Milwaukee County is on course to record more than 300 homicides for the year if trends continue.

Avoiding such a scenario is a top priority for the Crowley County Executive and its administration leaders. The first Community Health & Healing event, taking place in the Park West neighborhood of Milwaukee in the 53206 ZIP code, will include an audience of community behavioral health professionals and will be broadcast live on the Milwaukee County Executive. Youtube channel and on Facebook.

“We support the county’s vision to achieve racial equity and become the healthiest county in Wisconsin by focusing on improving individual and community health. A key strategy to achieve this goal is to address the root causes through prevention,” said Shakita LaGrant-McClain, director of the Department of Health and Human Services. “We know that if we invest in prevention upstream, we can prevent problems downstream later.”

The next event in the series will be a community reception focusing on suicide prevention and resource connections. The event will take place on Wednesday, March 30^and from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Milwaukee County Southern Access Clinic located at 1645 W. National Avenue, Milwaukee, in the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center building. The Crowley County Executive, City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention (OVP), community organizations and people with lived experience will discuss the critical issue facing our community, death by suicide, warning signs and the connection of friends and loved ones to resources.

Information about the Milwaukee County Health and Healing Series can be found at county.milwaukee.gov/HealthAndHealingSeries.

In Canada, only about eight percent of health research funding is devoted to women’s health. Dr. Dawn Kingston, RN Aut., Ph.D., UCalgary Nursing, Interprovincial Chair in Women’s Mental Health at Lois Hole Hospital for Women Research is working hard to bridge the gap with its digital mental health platform HOPE, Digitally deliver personalized mental health risk and symptom screening to women, as well as offer education, therapy and “next step” recommendations.

In her own way, Kingston is taking action for equality this International Women’s Day and doing her part to #BreakTheBias.

Kingston began in 2012 by asking women what they needed to improve their mental health during pregnancy and throughout postpartum. Three out of four women in her studies indicated that they preferred to manage their own mental health. As a result, Kingston envisioned the need for accessible and affordable mental health care and resources and launched the digital mental health platform HOPE in 2019, with support from a clinical network, mother and families and its chair, funded by the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation (an initiative of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation), University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing and Institute for Women’s and Children’s Health.

“We believe that self-management taps into a woman’s sense of control over her life, empowering her to make the decisions that are in her best interest,” Kingston says. “Often, women are so busy juggling the many aspects of their lives that they don’t have the time or financial resources for traditional therapy or doctor’s appointments and they prefer to be able to take action by themselves. Our HOPE digital platform enables women to access therapeutic and educational resources anytime, anywhere to improve their mental health. »

After supporting more than 4,000 pregnant and postpartum women through this unique app, Kingston says her team has found that many women still struggle with mental health issues after leaving the postpartum period. Through a five-year renewal of its chair in 2021, the app plans to provide mental health supports to women at all stages of life with all types of mental health needs, including pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, grief and loss, relationships and life challenges.

During the COVID pandemic, women’s need for mental health support has increased dramatically, Kingston says.

Women often assume responsibility for care, whether of children or the elderly. With the pandemic, women are more likely to stay home from work to homeschool their children or to take more care of their elderly parents during periods of confinement. Added to already busy lives, the pandemic has heightened stressors in women’s lives and increased the risk of anxiety and/or depression.

Sharlene RutherfordPresident and CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation says: “The past two years have undoubtedly been years like no other and unfortunately we have seen that women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

“However, the new research and initiatives undertaken by Dr. Kingston’s team represent an exceptionally bright ray of optimism in the field of women’s health – an area that has been vastly underresearched, underfunded and underserved. We are so proud and grateful to support Dr. Kingston and her team, and we are confident that they will continue to make tremendous strides in supporting women’s mental health.

Indeed, extensive marketing research conducted by the Kingston team reveals that there is no existing platform like HOPE that offers mental health help and resources to women.

The extended HOPE digital mental health platform, or HOPE 3.0 as it is called, is now under construction and the plan is to launch the upgrade before the end of the year. Features of HOPE 3.0 free screening, therapy and resources for women at any point in their lives so they are empowered to manage their own mental health journey.

“At the end of the day, it’s about overcoming barriers to mental health care,” says Kingston. “No country in the world has been able to provide accessible and affordable mental health care for all and this has always been one of our ambitions. I am so grateful for my chair which provides stable funding and links to others within the Alberta research community. And women in Alberta are luckier.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NMDA contact: Brandon Larrañaga Communications Assistant, New Mexico Department of Agriculture [email protected] 575-646-1864

March 7, 2022

USDA funded program to help local farmers

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LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) has received a grant for the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network program with the goal of improving a network that connects people who are engaged in agriculture , animal husbandry and other agriculture-related occupations to stress relief programs.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the grant to NMDA. Projects funded under the program must initiate, expand, or maintain programs that provide professional agricultural behavioral health counseling and referral to other forms of assistance as needed through telephone helplines and agricultural websites; training programs and workshops; support groups; and local services and activities. A total of $500,000 has been awarded and must be used by August 31, 2022. NMDA has partnered with New Mexico State University (NMSU) Cooperative Extension Service to allocate these funds on multiple platforms.

NMDA plans to leverage NMSU’s Southwest Frontier Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center (Centre), which is a collaborative effort between NMDA and the Cooperative Extension Service, to improve existing efforts aligned with achieving the goals of the Stress Support Network.

The center’s co-director, Marshal Wilson, is excited about the potential possibilities arising from the New Mexico Farms and Ranches Stress Assistance Network and its funding.

“The Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center and our partners are pleased to support our state’s agricultural producers through this network,” Wilson said. “This funding allows us to expand the programs we have already worked on and further expand our ability to benefit New Mexico farmers. The welfare of farmers and ranchers is of the utmost importance, and we hope this program will benefit them. »

Wilson is also an assistant director of the NMDA’s agricultural and production services division.

In collaboration with the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, the Center will use a blended approach to achieve four specific goals articulated around improving behavioral health, reducing and alleviating stress, and achieving results. positive for farming communities in New Mexico. The objectives include:

• Leverage existing network resources such as the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Stronger Together campaign through a grassroots campaign to increase local awareness and education,
• Enhance professional development opportunities by providing training, such as mental health first aid or similar courses to increase skill-based capacity to recognize and respond to stress in local communities,
• Adapt and create evidence-based stress prevention, wellness, and health resources to recognize cultural and traditional lifestyles unique to New Mexico and how they are affected by stress; and,
• Host multiple in-person and virtual workshops to provide awareness and education regarding stress relief and wellness in different parts of the state.

New Mexico Bureau of Agriculture and Livestock CEO Chad Smith said the Stronger Together campaign and other programs are prime examples of how funding from this grant can have an impact. positive on the state’s farmers.

“The New Mexico Bureau of Agriculture and Livestock is proud to be a partner in the ‘Stronger Together’ campaign,” said Smith. “The funding provided through the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network grant will allow our partners to truly amplify this campaign and others like it and help get much-needed resources spread across the state and between the hands of those in need. .”

Marcy Ward, livestock specialist with NMSU’s Cooperative Extension Service, believes the program provides a vital opportunity to positively impact farmers by using the program to educate and inform.

“The Cooperative Extension Service provides an educational outreach opportunity to reach growers in our state,” Ward said. “With the help of the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network, we can provide resources to help them deal with the additional stress they experience related to working in the agriculture industry locally.”

The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network website provides information on stress prevention, wellness, and health resources, or you can contact Marshal Wilson at 575-646-7243 or [email protected] .edu.

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Find us at: www.nmda.nmsu.edu Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NMDeptAg YouTube: NMDeptAg LinkedIn: New Mexico Department of Agriculture

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA., March 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — To support vibrant health in the region, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is leading the Inland Empire’s first cross-county, cross-sector Community Health Assessment (CHA) this year. The assessment will highlight the region’s most pressing health and social needs: mental health, homelessness, health equity and more.

Using a collaborative approach, IEHP brings together network hospitals, county public health departments, academic institutions, and community organizations to better coordinate ongoing regional health assessment efforts. The health plan will also provide sponsorship and recourse to ensure that the collaborative assessment meets the needs of partners. Historically, CHAs have paved the way for large-scale policy and systemic change to promote community health.

“The initiative will better align current member and community assessments, including those conducted by our public health and hospital partners,” said Dr. Priya Batra, IEHP Senior Medical Director for Family and Community Health. “By working together, we can identify the gaps and efforts needed to contribute and move the region forward on a common path to vibrant health.”

The IEHP Community Health Collaborative Assessment is currently underway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

“As a community health plan, it is our duty to connect members to the care they need, as well as to connect our partners to the resources needed, all to ensure that our members and communities have the opportunity to improve their health and well-being,” said Dr. Takashi Wada. “We look forward to working with stakeholders in our region to identify the priorities that matter most to our communities.”

About IEHP

With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 Medicaid health plans and the nation’s largest nonprofit Medicare-Medicaid plan. In his 25^and year, the IEHP accompanies more than 1.5 million inhabitants in Riverside and Saint Bernardine counties that are enrolled in Medicaid or Cal MediConnect plans and has a growing network of more than 7,300 providers and nearly 2,500 team members. Through dynamic partnerships with providers and community organizations, coupled with award-winning service and a tradition of quality care, IEHP is fully committed to its vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. For more information, visit iehp.org.

SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP)

He was clear in his sentiment that he hopes the city will invest in physical and mental health resources.

Investing in mental health by creating a “community navigator”

Of the $1 million Karl recommends the city invest in health care of the $6 million it receives from American Rescue Plan Act funds, he would like to see investment in mental health, according to a letter he wrote to city officials.

The letter he sent to the three elected officials, the city council and the finance council “spurred healthy conversations,” Karl, president of the Waveny LifeCare network, said Monday.

Director of Social Services Bethany Zaro said “Leo’s letter provided a fruitful introduction to the many ways our city can benefit from ARPA funding.”

New Canaan has received $2.8 million and expects nearly $3 million more this year from the federal program that provides $350 billion in emergency funding to state and local governments.

“Although some of these funds have already been spent or allocated to specific projects, we are fortunate to be able to hold a public debate on how some of the remaining funds should be spent,” Karl said.

Karl would like $300,000 to support a behavioral health navigator for the next three years and $400,000 for investment in telehealth.

The demand for “mental health support due to increased stress, anxiety and addiction has never been higher,” Waveny LifeCare President and CEO Russell Barksdale said this week. .

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on health care, before that in 2018, when Karl was president of the New Canaan Community Foundation, the organization “identified behavioral health as a specific area requiring special attention. within our New Canaan community,” he said. .

Karl recommends the development of a “community navigator,” which would allow residents to find resources when faced with health issues.

Surveying the city’s resources four years ago, the foundation “identified a wide range of resources provided by many outstanding organizations, but it was not necessarily easy for anyone in need to access them quickly”, Karl said in his letter. “Through a series of focus groups and other work, the NCCF Behavioral Health Committee has outlined a series of steps that may help bridge the gap between individuals and families and available services.”

The Navigator would allow “a single point of contact familiar with the behavioral health field and all of the various organizations and services available,” the letter says. “From the young to the elderly and everyone in between, we have all been affected by the effects of this pandemic.” .

Behavioral health has been and continues to be a major focus of the city’s Department of Social Services, Zaro said. “There has definitely been an increase in requests for individual and group support.”

Telehealth, in conjunction with Silver Hill Hospital, could address behavioral health issues, with 24/7 availability, according to Karl’s vision.

The recommendations made by Karl are consistent with the requests for funds that Barksdale has made. He asked the city for ARPA funds for “the development of a telehealth and telemedicine technology platform that can be used by health care providers throughout New Canaan.”

Barksdale said “one platform for all of these providers is the most cost-effective solution to building better access to healthcare for years to come.”

Karl raised concerns about two populations in particular – young students and seniors.

The young students were affected “because their daily learning and their social development were significantly affected. Elderly people, both in their own homes and those residing in collective accommodation, have endured dramatic isolation and the loss of much-needed social connections,” Karl’s letter reads.

APRA Fund for Physical Health, Institute for Health Care Workers

An institute for healthcare workers at the Waveny LifeCare Network and future health testing are two of the things Karl would like to see as part of the $1million US bailout funds he recommends the city spend for health.

State and federal priorities for APRA funds “led Waveny LifeCare Network to consider ways to collaborate and address services that would improve health accessibility in collaboration with other providers,” Barksdale said. .

In the letter Karl wrote to officials, he argues that the city should spend some of the $6 million it receives from ARPA on health initiatives, including $200,000 to train certified practical nurses and nurses. home healthcare workers, with an additional $100,000 for future tests to monitor the disease. tendencies.

Barksdale explained that Governor Ned Lamont wants to “ensure that the state’s recovery efforts are directed toward transformative initiatives that would see Connecticut emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger, healthier, and ready to resume. the advances that have made the state a leader in many areas and a great place to live.

Much of the money Karl is asking for would be for programs he would expect to be administered by the Waveny Lifecare Network, which has served the city for 40 years. Karl explains that Waveny is the right organization to lead these efforts, as “the elderly population in our community continues to be most at risk with this virus and this population was the hardest hit in the early months of the pandemic. “. Waveny is also “New Canaan’s largest private employer, with over six hundred employees,” according to Karl.

nursing institute

Karl said he would also like to see investment in a nursing institute at Waveny LifeCare to make up for a shortage of nursing staff.

It would be “a unique workplace development program that will help train the next generation of highly skilled CNAs (certified nursing assistants) and home health aides for our community,” her letter says.

Barksdale hopes to “fund a training program for future nurses and home care professionals” by “addressing both the expansion of home care and pathways to higher education. Nursing is a very noble profession and one that has been hardest hit by the pandemic,” exacerbating “the pre-pandemic shortage of professional nurses.”

Karl is confident that Waveny is well positioned to achieve this goal, since “the organization’s affiliation and merger with Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Fairfield County in 2021”.

This change has allowed Waveny to expand its services so that there are more nursing professionals in their network, an “expanded” home care network and a focus on community nursing, “which has helped the city ​​throughout the pandemic with testing and vaccinations,” Karl said.

Future monitoring

Karl recommends “investment in ongoing testing and trend monitoring to ensure our community continues to stay ahead of the curve.” He plans to invest in testing as methodologies evolve so the city can “adapt quickly as new variations continue to emerge.”

Testing will continue to be needed because while “defeating COVID was a laudable goal, most medical professionals realize that COVID has gone from pandemic to endemic,” Barksdale said. “The virus will continue to mutate to varying degrees, existing tests and existing vaccinations will become less effective, and early identification of these mutations” is essential.

Telehealth

Both Karl and Barksdale want to boost the use of telehealth, which offers an online connection between a nurse and people in their homes.

The pandemic has “highlighted the enormous pressure on our healthcare system, especially on doctors, nurses and hospital capacity. One bright spot has been the emergence of telehealth as a legitimate tool in our healthcare system,” Karl said.

The telehealth program would be staffed by Waveny LifeCare staff and open to New Canaan residents from the young to the elderly, with a particular focus on those with special needs, medical conditions or those over the age of 70, according to Carl.

Through the use of telehealth resources, the city could help by “preemptively addressing health issues before they escalate into a hospital visit.” Karl said.

Online health care visits “are becoming increasingly accepted by the general public, as well as health care providers, including doctors and specialists, as technology has become more advanced.”

Barksdale said he supports telehealth because it gives residents “access to wellness and affordable health care that avoids unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital admissions also remains the best cost-effective strategy.” “.

Zaros said she trusts the ARPA Allocations Committee to “seriously seek out all submissions” and added that she is “confident that each member will consider project feasibility and the qualification guidelines of each entity requesting funds”.

Praising local community health officials, Karl said: “I hope we can invest these funds wisely in a way that will have a positive impact on the lives, well-being and health services of our residents of New Canaan”.