One of the most urgent issues the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light was the need to create better access to mental health services. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported that in a 2021 nationwide study during the pandemic, nearly half of survey respondents reported symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder, with 10 percent expressing that their mental health needs were not being met. Issues related to mental health were a problem long before the pandemic began, now, it’s even more urgent. We cannot let this remain the norm in our country. We need our leaders to prioritize better access to affordable, quality mental health services.
Pennsylvanians of all ages are confronting issues related to mental health, but young people are increasingly on the front lines of this issue. Many are grappling with anxiety, depression, and other social and mental health-related issues at alarming rates. According to research gathered by Kooth, a web-based provider of mental health services for school-aged children, 65 percent of students who had access to Kooth’s services during the 2022-2023 school year in Pennsylvania expressed that they needed professional support, but “did not feel comfortable speaking to friends or a family member about their mental well-being.” It’s clear that more must be done to turn the tide on this issue, which is why it’s so important that those in a position of influence prioritize solutions to set our next generation of leaders up for success.
One helpful solution would be to better integrate behavioral and primary health care, including in school settings and other childcare or youth institutions. It’s vital that we set our younger generation up for success and foster environments where professionals can identify mental health conditions quickly and intervene appropriately. Better integration of care means broader data sharing across behavioral health and primary care physicians, as well as more robust training of primary care providers who can help identify and address issues on the front end. This will go a long way in reducing potentially unnecessary treatment by specialist mental health clinicians who are already spread thin.
To that end, it’s imperative that we continue to find solutions to mitigate workforce shortages in this field. Our leaders should take every opportunity available to establish long-term programs to build out the mental health workforce, such as programs to incentivize up-and-coming medical students to enter the mental health field. We should open as many pathways as we can for medical professionals to deliver the mental health care that so many Pennsylvanians need. One successful pathway that’s already shown vast benefits is telehealth, which is extremely useful to both patients and health care professionals, allowing patients to access mental health services quickly and privately.
I’m encouraged to see that Pennsylvania leaders like Senator Bob Casey recognize the need to address this issue, as he and his Senate colleagues introduced legislation at the end of last year to strengthen mental health support for our nation’s youth. It’s great to see positive momentum like this from our congressional leaders, but I have concerns that other negative forces at play could stifle this much-needed progress.
The biggest potential roadblock to progress in the mental health space right now is a proposed rule change to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which, while intended to increase the number of mental health care providers, may inadvertently reduce access to and quality of care. It would require health insurance companies to add less qualified providers, exacerbating the provider shortage crisis as patients with mild symptoms will be encouraged to seek treatment from higher level providers who are already at their max capacity.
Our leaders must combat any rule changes or legislation that could negatively impact patients’ access to care. Pennsylvanians are counting on common sense, proactive solutions to improve the outlook on mental health in our state. It’s imperative that we lay the groundwork now for improved access to mental health services, especially for our youth and other vulnerable populations. Only then will we move the needle on these growing challenges in our communities.
Garrett Trout is chief executive officer of TrueNorth Wellness, a trauma-informed care agency.
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