As with many aspects of the health care industry, more people are needed to work in the field of mental health care than ever before.
According to surveys done by the American Psychological Association, numerous mental health providers are feeling the pressure of increased workloads as demand for mental health services increases. Skilled and dedicated individuals are wanted in the field to ease the strain on providers and better serve the mental health needs of our community.
The nation is facing a mental health crisis. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that as many as one in five U.S. adults live with mental illness. As the number of individuals in the community suffering with mental health continues to increase, the need for mental health services and support also grows.
Many individuals’ lives’ have changed in one way or another due to the unusual and challenging circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even households that have not experienced illness have had to adjust their way of living and routines. The following factors put individuals worldwide at an increased risk for mental illness: Isolation and separation from loved ones, job losses and insecurity, and health care workers around the world were stretched to their limits for extended periods of time due to an increased number of patients. Adverse side effects experienced by frontline health care workers due to the pandemic included difficulty sleeping, overeating, increased anxiety and depression.
Eskenazi Health aims to provide a solution to the mental health worker shortage with the John & Kathy Ackerman Mental Health Professional Development Center at Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center (Ackerman Center).
The Ackerman Center offers professional development support, enabling Eskenazi Health to train and invest in the mental health provider workforce and meet the growing needs of the community. The Ackerman Center provides several programs, including development pathways for care coordinators, master’s level clinicians and peer support specialists, adults who have had past experiences with mental health or substance use disorder who use their lived experiences to help others.
Through the Ackerman Center, Eskenazi Health’s goal is to provide better professional support for the current mental health workforce, encouraging the dedicated members of the team to remain with Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center long term. At the same time, the Ackerman Center will train the next generation to provide high-quality care in mental health and addiction services.
Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center, a division of Eskenazi Health and Indiana’s first community mental health center, offers strengths-based and family- and community-centered inpatient and outpatient programs that use the Recovery Model of treatment for emotional and behavioral problems, including substance abuse. Care is provided through inpatient services and more than 430,000 outpatient visits each year. Services are available at eight Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center sites and residential facilities throughout Indianapolis. Mental health services are also available at Eskenazi Health Center primary care locations.
To learn more, please visit https://www.eskenazihealth.edu/mental-health
If you or a loved one need crisis support, please contact the 988 Lifeline or the Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center emergency line at 317.880.8485.
The 988 Lifeline is a national network of over 200 local, independent crisis centers equipped to help people in mental health-related distress or experiencing a suicidal crisis via call, chat, or text. The 988 Lifeline provides free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or mental health related distress 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across the U.S.
Nydia Nunez-Estrada, M.D.
Family Medicine Specialist at Eskenazi Health Center North Arlington