It’s good to see discussions like what happened last week in Oklahoma City.
The Healthy Minds Policy Initiative hosted a “State of Mental Health” event that brought together experts to discuss how to work in mental health and substance abuse issues in our state.
It wasn’t that long ago such a conversation wouldn’t have been held, at least not out in the open. Mental health and substance abuse just weren’t topics spoken about so openly.
We are glad that has changed.
In order to reach lasting, workable solutions, you first have to acknowledge the issue. You can’t solve a problem unless you confront it.
Healthy Minds, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy group that researches mental health and substance abuse, hosted the event for the first time with speakers from national and state-level mental health groups as well as academic experts, lawmakers and other stakeholders.
According to a report from Healthy Minds, some 768,000 adult Oklahomans experience mental illness and about 584,000 deal with a substance abuse disorder.
Experts at the event said potential solutions include building the mental health workforce, focusing care on Oklahoma’s youth and making care more affordable and accessible, according to a report by Oklahoma Voice.
Keynote speaker Thomas Insel, former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, outlined what he said are the five main problems when it comes to mental health issues on a national level: a lack of capacity, engagement, quality, accountability and equity. As solutions, he proposed greater investment, and care that is person-centered, coordinated, measurement based and recovery based, according to the Oklahoma Voice report.
Talking about the issues and possible solutions is important, but it also is the easy part.
The hard part comes in putting the recommendations into practice.
That’s going to take more conversations among leaders in the state as they work to form policy. It’s also going to take money from the Legislature to implement the solutions that can result in real change.
Talk is one thing. Following up with a plan that works is the next step.