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The I-70 Scout & Eastern Colorado News

Tag: mental health

  • Mental Health and Emergency Medical Experts Encourage Support for Clinicians Health During Pandemic

    Mental Health and Emergency Medical Experts Encourage Support for Clinicians Health During Pandemic

    WASHINGTON, D.C. —In a joint statement, emergency medicine and other leading medical associations, academics and psychiatry experts outline steps to support the mental health of emergency physicians and other health professionals currently risking their lives to treat patients during this pandemic.

    “A physician’s choice to address his or her mental health should be encouraged, not penalized,” said William Jaquis, MD, FACEP, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). “Efforts to preserve and protect the mental health of emergency care teams should be prioritized now and in the aftermath of this pandemic.” 

    Optimal physical and mental health of physicians and other medical clinicians is conducive to the optimal health and safety of patients, the joint statement reads. Physicians and other health care professionals should feel comfortable seeking treatment for psychiatric symptoms, just as anyone else should. A health professionals’ history of mental illness or substance use disorder (SUD) treatment should not be used as an indicator of their current or future ability to competently practice medicine.

    These leading medical groups believe that credentialing entities should refrain both from discouraging physicians from seeking professional help and from dissuading physicians from joining peer support groups. There should be no reprisals for a physician who engages in such therapeutic endeavors.

    According to the statement, “For most physicians and clinicians, seeking treatment for mental health triggers legitimate fear of resultant loss of licensure, loss of income or other career setbacks. Such fears are known to deter physicians from accessing necessary mental health care. Seeking care should be strongly encouraged, not penalized.”

    “As important as providing personal protective equipment is the need to ensure the mental health of our frontline clinicians is attended to during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said American Psychiatric Association President Jeffrey Geller, MD, MPH. “Each health care professional should seek help if needed without hesitation and should be helped to do so by a colleague if such assistance is necessary.”

    The joint statement is signed by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), American Academy of Neurology (AAN), American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPMR), American Association for Emergency Psychiatry (AAEP), American Association of Suicidology (AAS), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Physicians (ACP), American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM), American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Epilepsy Society (AES), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), American Geriatric Society (AGS), American Medical Association (AMA), American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS), American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society of Nephrology (ASN), American Thoracic Society (ATS), American Urological Association (AUA), Coalition on Psychiatric Emergencies (CPE), Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine (CORD), Council for Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA), Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), North American Spine Society (NASS), Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), Society of Emergency Medicine Physician Assistants (SEMPA), Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).

    The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 39,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million Americans they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit www.acep.org and www.emergencyphysicians.org.

     

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  • Community Reach Center visits the Statehouse to ask legislators to increase access

    (Westminster, Colorado – Jan 10, 2020) – Community Reach Center will be at the state Capitol building on Wednesday, Jan. 15, for Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC) annual Lobby Day at the Capitol.

    This signature day for CBHC highlights the importance of Colorado’s community behavioral health system of which Community Reach Center is a part of. During meetings with legislators, Community Reach Center will discuss mental health and substance use disorder needs with the hope of gaining support for local efforts geared toward creating better direct care opportunities for all Coloradans.

    This year, Community Reach Center, which is a critical component of Colorado’s behavioral health safety-net system, will be focusing on the severe need to strengthen the system’s workforce through increased reimbursement, salaries, and retention strategies such as student loan forgiveness.

    Over the past 21 years, community provider inflationary increases have fallen so far behind that providers have lost more than 36.7 percent of their spending power as compared to the inflation rate across our state. Additionally, compared to state employee salary survey increases, community providers have lagged by 33.5 percent.

    As this issue has continued to worsen over the years, it has caused a shortage of behavioral health providers who serve our most vulnerable populations as safety- net providers cannot adequately compete with the broader healthcare industry. It is crucial that efforts be taken to close this funding gap.

    Community Reach Center will also be lobbying to increase opportunities to expand Mental Health First Aid, an eight-hour course which teaches the signs and symptoms of someone in a behavioral health crisis. Proposed legislation would appropriate funding to the Colorado Department of Education to contract for a train-the-trainer program designed to increase behavioral health training opportunities for K-12 educators and faculty. Community Reach Center is very pleased that this legislation will be a top priority as the bill, SB20-001, was the first to be introduced in the Senate in 2020.

    Community Reach Center looks forward to engaging with legislators during the first days of the 2020 legislative session to ensure that all Coloradans, including those Adams and Broomfield counties can access excellent and affordable behavioral health care across our great state.

     

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  • Gov. Polis & CDHS Launch SEE ME Campaign to Battle Stigma of Behavioral Health Conditions

    Gov. Polis & CDHS Launch SEE ME Campaign to Battle Stigma of Behavioral Health Conditions

    DENVER– Gov. Jared Polis joined Michelle Barnes, executive director at the Department of Human Services, to launch the new SEE ME campaign, to address the stigma associated with getting mental health or substance use disorder support. The campaign is designed to complement the work of the Colorado Behavioral Health Task Force (BHTF) and provide an opportunity for all Coloradans to take action in support of behavioral health system reform.

    “This campaign is about ending the stigma for the one million Coloradans living with a behavioral health condition or substance abuse disorder,” said Governor Jared Polis. “This just one step toward reforming our behavioral health system, but a critical one. We want to ensure that Colorado is a state where anyone who needs services can get them without fear of judgement.”

    “We have an unprecedented opportunity to positively influence the future of the behavioral health system in Colorado,” shared CDHS Executive Director, Michelle Barnes. “Many Coloradans are touched by mental health conditions or addiction disorders either personally or by someone they know. But, they are not reaching out for help because of the stigma associated with mental health conditions and substance use. The SEE ME campaign gives a voice and face to those impacted and takes us one step closer to reducing stigma and shame.” 

    SEE ME Colorado will move Coloradans from awareness to action by engaging them through the following campaign components:

    • The 14-Day Challenge, which includes prompts ranging from engaging in the conversation about changing the behavioral health system, to new ways to pay it forward and see more than a diagnosis. 
    • The SEE ME pledge, which Coloradans can sign to acknowledge that they will ask for help and help those around them when needed. 
    • The virtual story wall, where Coloradans can submit their experiences with mental health conditions, addiction disorders and their experiences with Colorado’s behavioral health system.

    Gov. Polis was also joined by Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, Rick Garcia, Executive Director at the Department of Local Affairs, Stan Hilkey, Executive Director at the Department of Public Safety, and Dean Williams, Executive Director at the Department of Corrections. 

    Current State of Colorado’s Behavioral Health

    Colorado dedicates over one billion dollars annually to its behavioral health system yet it has among the highest suicide rates in the country. Many national rankings place Colorado in the bottom quarter of states when evaluating the quality of behavioral health and access to care. According to Governor Jared Polis, “Providing upstream care and services through community behavioral health promotes the health, well-being, and civil rights of our citizens and also ensures we are using state resources effectively.” 

    Please visit  https://seemecolorado.com/ to join the cause.

    ABOUT BHTF

    The Colorado BHTF was formed in the spring of 2019 at the request of Governor Polis. The task force is intended to shape the future of behavioral health services in Colorado. BHTF has been charged with creating a statewide blueprint to ensure that all Coloradans have access to timely, high-quality and affordable behavioral health services within their communities. 

    If you have questions, contact Madlynn Ruble, Deputy Director of Communications, by email at ; or by phone at 303-866-3411 (office).

    To learn more about the campaign or to take the challenge, visit the website. 

     

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