In large cities like Chicago, behavioral health services are only half staffed, and rural communities have even fewer people to treat them…
STATELINE — Throughout the week, 13 WREX takes a deep dive into mental health topics, including how services and state insurance affect your options, but right now our focus is on rural areas and how people access mental health care. Moving on to specific challenges facing rural areas. .
WINNEBAGO COUNTY — Britt Cotton has come a long way over the past three years. She lost her child to suicide in 2021, and now she's starring in the movie '…
Staffing:
Nearly four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Behavioral Health is still struggling to hire staff. This problem occurs even when serving a large city like Chicago. Rosecrans Illinois Regional Chair Carlene Cardosi said her attendance at a recent conference in the Windy City showed that large cities are struggling and rural areas have few staff members. .
“In the city of Chicago, at a recent meeting I attended, it was announced that the staffing percentage for behavioral health would be 50%,” Cardosi said. “In rural areas, it's even less. So there's not enough people working in the field and trying to help rural people.”
Cardosi said staffing shortages make it difficult to start any kind of service in rural areas, but they are generally trying to scrape together some level of outpatient care. Some rural areas, like Stevenson County, are starting to see more investment from health networks like Rosecrance, but more intensive services are nowhere to be found outside of larger cities.
No residential services:
Staffing issues have made it difficult for health networks like Rosecrance to even offer outpatient counseling, but having qualified staff to run intensive residential services is difficult for small-scale This is a difficult task for the community. Cardosi said the biggest barrier to accessing intensive services in rural areas is how far people will drive to receive services.
“So the first thing you need to do is get transportation to the nearest insurance company that has insurance or state-funded coverage. That's going to be the biggest barrier,” Cardosi said. “Many communities have hospitals and emergency rooms, but if you're looking for a residential substance use program, it's important to find one that allows families to participate.”
Seeking to meet the need in any way he can, Rosecrance has sought to expand and preach telemedicine in rural areas. This service allows you to treat anyone in Illinois, as long as the other psychiatrist or therapist is also in Illinois. However, the disadvantage of rural areas is that not all households have reliable telephone or internet connections.
People in rural areas may not have residential treatment in their backyard, but if someone has a mental health crisis, Rosecrans Services travels to 19 counties, Cardosi said. To tell.
“Historically, we have entered some rural counties with mobile crisis response. They can build connections with providers and with us,” Cardosi said.
Rural options/resources:
Finding out what mental health resources are near you can be a hassle all by itself.can make a call Nami or Northern Illinois Explain what treatment options are near you or call us rosecrance Check to see if some level of outpatient service is established near you.
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