Mental health services becoming mobile in urban and rural Kentucky
Mental health services are becoming mobile in urban and rural Kentucky. Today. Seven County Services, a nonprofit based in Louisville, revealed new vans that will take their services across the metro and 6 other counties. WHS 11’s Jose Alonzo shows us how they plan to address mental health concerns wherever you need it. You are looking inside at the mobile unit office unlike any other in Louisville. This is the first look at taking mental health care to people. The nonprofit Seven County Services will use two of these offices to address the mental health needs of people with diverse backgrounds. Language access is available. It’s going to be in a welcome inclusive environment. These vehicles will be parked at LGBTQ centers. They’ll be parked at Somali community of Louisville kinds of places. They’ll be parked in communities where Spanish is the predominant language. You’re not going to have to leave your community to access this care. This is an investment of $360,000 by the nonprofit which contains telehealth capabilities and will be staffed with a clinical team of behavioral health professionals. Another unique thing about these units is that if someone’s calling for mental health but don’t want to bring attention to themselves, these are magnets on the vans that are removable so they can make sure that patient feels safe. The rates of suicide have increased. We fortunately are starting to see a slight decline in our substance use disorder overdose deaths, but we continue to have problems and are also concerned about the rate of gun violence in our community. These units will also leave Metro Louisville to visit our surrounding counties like Bullet County. Public Health director Robert Flaherty of Bullet calls this a tremendous asset. The state and national average is about 1 provider for every 300 or so residents. In Bullock County we have one mental health provider for 950 residents, so we are well behind that national average so any effort to increase mental health resources is, is well. The health department is also making services like immunizations and testing mobile with their own bus, but with seven counties saying crisis calls are over $5000 a month, they need to. — Strengthen their
— presence and use the mobile units. You can access services, but don’t hesitate to call 988 and do that first initial outreach because help is available three digits away. — And
— now that help can come closer to you than ever before in Shepherdsville, Jose Alonzo, WHAS 11 on your side. And again, if you’re dealing with daily struggles like getting out of bed or experiencing an overwhelming feeling of sadness, you are encouraged to get help by dialing the suicide crisis hotline. That number is 988.
Seven Counties Services revealed new vans that will take their services across the Metro and to six other counties.
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