Study ranks Ky. 11th in mental health, No. 1 for adults and No. 31 for youth | Features

Beshear listed a long list of ways Kentucky has worked to improve mental health care in the state, including extending Medicaid benefits to children and women who are pregnant or postpartum. Legislation expanding access to outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness. Implementation of a policy allowing peace officers and firefighters to take 48 hours of mental health leave after being involved in a traumatic situation. Creation of the Kentucky Judicial and Mental Health Commission. and legislation to make telemedicine more accessible to everyone.

Beshear also wants the state to support mental health services for victims of natural disasters, train law enforcement officers on how to recognize and respond to people in mental health crises, and expand school-based mental health resources. has invested millions of dollars in , enacted legislation allowing students to take mental health days, and created the Student Mental Health Initiative to ensure that young people have a voice. Additionally, a law has just been enacted to protect doctors seeking treatment for mental illness.

Beshear also said the high-ranking news comes as Kentucky celebrates the one-year anniversary of using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a short, easy-to-remember confidential crisis hotline for mental health. pointed out that it was

“Since the launch of this free and confidential 24/7 line, we have seen a significant increase in call volume, text messages and chats, as well as a decrease in abandonment rates and speed of response,” said Beshear.

The latest data shows it has answered more than 22,000 calls since July last year, a 22% increase over the last 12 months, and an additional 9,000 since the service launched. There were 9,000 online chats and text messages nearby.

“I am very proud of the work that has been done in the mental health field in the Commonwealth over the last few years, but perhaps what I am most proud of is the people who are willing to help. …it’s okay to not be okay.It’s okay to ask for help.It’s okay to get tips and counseling to help you get through difficult times,” he said. “People spend a good part of their lives training, going to school to help you out when needed, waiting for you and everyone else who’s beaten up.”

Kentucky has a relatively low rate of answering 988 calls, according to KFF Health News. “988 uses the caller’s area code to route the call to the emergency center closest to that area code. If the local center does not answer the call, the call is redirected to an out-of-state overflow facility. and about 8% of all calls nationwide are handled there.If counselors at national overflow facilities are not familiar with local resources, they may not be able to assist callers with treatment referrals or additional assistance. However, these may be better served by local crisis centers.In-state response rates depend on how much money and how long to invest in local call centers and extensive crisis response services. Several factors can influence, such as whether

MHA’s Kentucky Rankings

The report ranks Kentucky 10th for mental illness prevalence and 24th for access to care when combined across all indicators for adults and youth. We then provided rankings for each metric in the report.

Over the past year, Kentucky adults ranked 30th for mental illness prevalence and 4th for substance use disorders. Serious thoughts of suicide ranked 25th. Access to care ranks 27th. Eighth, if you have a mental illness and report an unmet need. The third is the uninsured with mental illness. Fifth, those who had 14 or more mentally unhealthy days in the month and were unable to see a doctor due to financial reasons.

Overall, the MHA ranked Kentucky youth 31st in all seven youth indicators.

Kentucky ranks eighth in youth mental illness prevalence. He is the 28th young man to have a substance use disorder in the past year. The eighth was a young man with a severe major depressive episode (MDE). Young people with MDE not receiving mental health services rank 48th. Ranked 43rd among youth with severe MDE who received consistent treatment. 11th for young people with private insurance that does not cover mental or emotional problems. 25th is a student identified as having an emotional disorder in an individualized education program.

The report also looked at mental health workforce availability, ranking Kentucky 30th among states and the District of Columbia.

This ranking is based on percentages or proportions for each state collected from the most recently available data, primarily based on data collected through 2020. Scores were analyzed by calculating standardized scores. The higher the ranking, the higher the score.