WHY MENTAL WELLNESS?
When an individual suffers from mental illness or is no longer mentally healthy, it can lead to disability, risky health behaviors, and/or death.¹ “Mental Health” was identified as the #2 overall health concern by respondents to the CHA Survey,² and was identified as the #1 health improvement priority by partners.³ Focus group and town hall meeting participants also identified mental health as one of their top concerns, with emphasis placed on the impact of stress and lack of support in the community. Substance abuse was also discussed in relation to mental health by participants and partners; however, substance abuse was identified as a separate priority area.
Additional primary and secondary data supports the need for focusing health improvement efforts on mental health. Over 13% of Hendricks County adults report lacking social or emotional support,⁴ and they experience, on average, 2.7 poor mental health days per month.⁵ Additionally, for residents who need health services, mental health services were the most needed health care service that Hendricks County residents did not receive (16.1%) based on responses to the CHA Survey, with vulnerable populations reporting the highest percentage of need (26.2%). Lastly, over 38% of respondents identified stress as one of the top reasons they cannot maintain a health weight.⁶
Additional information about mental wellness can be found in the 2016 Hendricks County Community Health Assessment.
PRIORITY AREA LEADERS AND PARTNERS
PRIORITY AREA LEADER: April Bordeau, Director
Care to Change Counseling
PRIORITY AREA PARTNERS: Cummins Behavioral Health Services, Mental Health America of Hendricks County, Hendricks County Health Department, Hendricks Therapy, The Hamilton Center, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, QSource, IU Health
2016 WORK PLAN
GOAL: By December 31, 2018, reduce the number of poor mental health days among Hendricks County adults from 2.7 days per month to 2.2 days per month as reported by the County Health Rankings.
SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVE: By December 31, 2016, develop a mental wellness guidebook on available mental wellness trainings and resources serving Hendricks County as reported by the Mental Wellness work group.
STRATEGIES:
Conduct needs assessment of the community to assess current mental wellness activities, gaps in services, and available resources.
Identify key community members who can implement mental wellness interventions to high risk populations (e.g. youth groups, senior services, veterans’ organizations) and/or areas (e.g. rural communities).
Write sample intervention strategies and messaging, and outline mental wellness resources for key community members based on results from the needs assessment.
Disseminate guidebook to key community members.
MID-TERM OBJECTIVE: By December 31,2017, train 50 primary care providers serving Hendricks County on behavioral screening and coordination of care with mental health care providers as reported by QSource.
STRATEGIES:
Identify primary care providers in Hendricks County working with high risk populations who have limited interaction with mental health care providers in Hendricks County.
Develop or identify screening tools and training protocols for primary care providers.
Identify training methods (e.g. in-person, webinar), schedule training dates and times, and train primary care providers on behavioral health screening and coordination of care.
Add messaging to provider-based intervention portion of the mental wellness guidebook on available training.
LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE: By December 31, 2018, train 100 Hendricks County community members working with high-risk populations on mental health first aid and support services as reported by The Hamilton Center.
STRATEGIES:
Review key members working with high-risk populations and/or areas.
Schedule training dates and train members on mental health first aid, how to develop support services within their organization, and available mental health resources in Hendricks County.
Develop messaging for members to distribute to their clients/patrons explaining where they can go or who they can contact about mental health help.
Add messaging to community-based intervention portion of the mental wellness guidebook.
GOAL: By December 31, 2018, decrease the rate of suicide in Hendricks County from 10.9 deaths per 100,000 to 10.5 deaths per 100,000 as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVE: By December 31, 2016, train at least five staff members in each of the middle and high schools in Hendricks County on mental health first aid and QPR as reported by the Mental Wellness work group.
STRATEGIES:
Meet with school officials to explain QPR training and identify staff working with high-risk students.
Schedule training dates and train staff on QPR and available suicide prevention and intervention services in Hendricks County.
Develop messaging for schools to distribute to students and parents explaining who students can talk to about suicide and where they can go for help.
Add messaging to school-based intervention portion of the mental wellness guidebook.
MID-TERM OBJECTIVE: By December 31,2017, train 50 primary care providers serving Hendricks County on suicide prevention screening and immediate referral as reported by the mental wellness guidebook.
STRATEGIES:
Identify populations at high-risk of committing suicide and identify primary care providers serving those populations.
Develop or identify screening tools, crisis intervention services, and training protocols for primary care providers.
Identify training methods (e.g. in-person, webinar), schedule training dates and times, and train primary care providers on mental health crisis screening and referral.
Add messaging to provider-based intervention portion of the mental wellness guidebook.
LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE: By December 31, 2018, train 100 Hendricks County community members working with high-risk populations on QPR and crisis referral services as reported by Mental Health America of Hendricks County.
STRATEGIES:
Review data on populations at high-risk of committing suicide and identify community members (e.g. faith-based organizations, law enforcement officers, senior services, veterans clubs) serving those populations.
Schedule training dates and train members on QPR and available suicide prevention and intervention services in Hendricks County.
Develop messaging for members to distribute to their clients/patrons explaining they are equipped to talk to about suicide and can refer to available crisis services for help.
Add messaging to community-based intervention portion of the mental wellness guidebook.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Mental Health America of Hendricks County
Provides counseling, suicide prevention and other mental health training, and referral to mental health services as needed.
Cummins Behavioral Health Services
Provides counseling, wraparound services, and other mental health and wellness services.
Provides counseling, wraparound services, and other mental health and wellness services.
Children’s Mental Health Initiative
Assesses children for needed mental health services and provides or refers families to available services.
Children’s Mental Health Wraparound
Provides mental health and social services and provides or refers families will the goal of keeping family units intact.
STAR Behavioral Health Services
Provides mental health services to service members and veterans from specially trained mental health care providers.
Provides mental health and wellness services.
Hendricks County Systems of Care Coalition
Coalition of local partners who work together to fill service gaps for children and families in need of mental health and social services.
REFERENCES
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Mental health basics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/basics.htm.
2. Hendricks County Health Partnership. (2015). 2015 Hendricks County community health assessment survey results: Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
3. Hendricks County Health Partnership. (2015). Hendricks County community health improvement process priority area voting and discussion results: Microsoft Word document.
4. Community Commons. (2016). Community health needs assessment health indicators report- social and economic factors: lack of social and emotional support. Retrieved from http://assessment.communitycommons.org/CHNA/report?page=2&id=214&reporttype=libraryCHNA.
5. County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. (2015). Poor mental health days: Indiana. Retrieved from http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/indiana/2015/measure/outcomes/42/map.
6. Hendricks County Health Partnership. (2015). 2015 Hendricks County community health assessment survey results: Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Hendricks County Health Partnership 