Health Intervention Project Proposal Assignment

Running head: PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION 1

Providing Mental Health Education to Johnston Residents

Elisabeth Lowe

Mercy College of Health Sciences

Running head: PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION 2

Providing Mental Health Education to Johnston Residents

Every year in the United States, approximately 30 million adults and children go without

any treatment for their mental health conditions (“The Doctor is Out”, n.d.). Despite Iowa being

ranked #9 out of the 50 U.S. states on Mental Health America’s ranking of access to mental

health services, there is still significant room for improvement (“Overall Ranking”, 2019) as

Iowa fails to meet many of the minimum standards for mental health care. For example, Iowa

only has 2 psychiatric beds per 100,000 people when the gold standard is 50 per 100,000. Iowa

also incarcerates more people for mental health issues than it treats (“Iowa”, n.d.) which suggests

that Iowa does not have adequate laws and supports for the mentally ill. This is particularly

alarming since, according to SAMHSA, 107,000 of adults older than 18 in Iowa suffered from a

serious mental illness in 2013-2014 (“Behavioral Health Barometer: Iowa”, 2015) which

translates to 4.6% of Iowan adults. According to the U.S. census, Johnston has a population of

22,582 (“U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Johnston city, Iowa”, n.d.) which means that roughly

1,038 individuals in Johnston potentially suffer from a serious mental illness. Even though there

are mental health services available in Johnston such as Brown Therapy Services, many of them

are selective in the insurances that they accept, and there are currently no inpatient or outpatient

facilities that accept Iowa Total Care’s Medicaid insurance as of October 4th, 2020 (“Find a

HealthCare Provider”, n.d.). Information regarding the percentage of Johnston residents on

medicaid is unavailable, but approximately 18% of Iowans are on Medicaid and that could mean

that over 4,000 Johnston residents are without access to local mental health services (“Medicaid

in Iowa”, 2019). With so many residents potentially suffering from a serious mental illness and

Running head: PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION 3

so many residents potentially being without any access to local mental healthcare services, it is

important to provide better access to mental healthcare education and mental health resources in

this community. Therefore, I have identified the lack of mental health services in Johnston, Iowa

as an important health need in the community, and I’ve determined that increasing education

about mental illness is a priority primary and secondary intervention. My goal is that 75% of

Johnston residents will have access to mental health resources by January of 2021.

One simple way to improve mental health care in Johnston is to increase education in the

community. Since roughly half of all mental illnesses have begun by age 14 and three-quarters

will have begun by age 24 (Parekh, 2018), I think school-aged children and teens should be a key

focus of this educational program. Similar to the physical and sexual health education that

children in Iowa’s public school system receive, I propose the addition of a mental health

education program as well. Previous studies that have been done with school age children found

that education done in schools significantly increased the children’s ability to identify and

discuss mental health issues (Desocio et al., 2006). Other studies have shown that mental health

education programs for school-age children and teens are effective in increasing awareness and

reducing stigma (Wahl et al., 2011). Since suicide is the second leading cause of death in the

10-24 age bracket (“Youth Suicide Statistics”, 2020), it is my belief that early education of

mental health illnesses and providing resources is key in preventing unnecessary harm and/or

death in our community.

Although I believe that educating the youth in Johnston will be one of the most effective

ways of inspiring change within the community and to get people talking about the issue, it is

crucial that we include adults in this education as well. Education for parents and other adults

could be offered on the weekends or evenings at the high school or at the city hall. This

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education can be centered on reducing stigma, especially since mental health issues carry more

stigma amongst baby boomers (Siervo, 2019), and providing education for those who may have

never received any mental health education at all. There could also be education programs for

parents centered on identifying warning signs in children. These educational programs could be

organized by a community health nurse who has experience or interest in psychiatric nursing

and/or mental health. Programs at the school could be organized by school nurses in

collaboration with the community health nurse, and volunteers could help run the programs for

adults by using information provided to them by the community health nurse.

Included in this education would be resources for mental health services in the

community and online. For example, there are services like Babylon Health which offer free

online therapy and psychiatry for those who are on Iowa’s medicaid insurance programs. I would

be sure to include information on transportation options to facilities in nearby communities that

may be helpful to community members. Making sure that the education includes free and paid

services available to the community will help ensure that all community members are able to get

the help that they need.

It is my hope that with improved education on mental health and by providing resources

to adults and to all of Johnston’s youth enrolled in the public school system, 75% of Johnston

residents will have access to mental health resources by January of 2021. In this paper, I

proposed that Johnston create educational programs for both school-aged youth and adults in

order to address the need for mental health care services and education in the community. It is

my belief that reducing stigma, improving knowledge about mental health illnesses, and ensuring

that community members have access to local or online services is crucial in improving the

mental health of this community.

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References

Behavioral Health Barometer: Iowa (Rep.). (2015). Retrieved October 4, 2020, from Substance

Abuse and Mental Health Administration website:

https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/2015_Iowa_BHBarometer.pdf

Desocio, J., Stember, L., & Schrinsky, J. (2006). Teaching Children about Mental Health and

Illness: A School Nurse Health Education Program. The Journal of School Nursing,

22(2), 81-86. doi:10.1177/105984050602200204

Find a HealthCare Provider. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2020, from

https://findaprovider.iowatotalcare.com/

Iowa. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2020, from

https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/browse-by-state/iowa

Medicaid in Iowa. (2019, October). Retrieved October 4, 2020, from

http://files.kff.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-state-IA

Overall Ranking. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2020, from

https://www.mhanational.org/issues/ranking-states

Parekh, R. (2018, July). Warning Signs of Mental Illness. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/warning-signs-of-mental-illness

Siervo, M. (2019, February 28). Mental Health and Baby Boomers: Reducing Stigma Key to

Healthy Aging. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from

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https://www.wellmedhealthcare.com/mental-health-and-baby-boomers-reducing-stigma-k

ey-to-healthy-aging/

The Doctor is Out. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2020, from

https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Publications-Reports/Public-Policy-Reports/Th

e-Doctor-is-Out

U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Johnston city, Iowa. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2020, from

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/johnstoncityiowa

Wahl, O. F., Susin, J., Kaplan, L., Lax, A., & Zatina, D. (2011). Changing Knowledge and

Attitudes with a Middle School Mental Health Education Curriculum. Stigma Research

and Action, 1(1), 44-53. doi:10.5463/sra.v1i1.17

Youth Suicide Statistics. (2020, August 27). Retrieved October 18, 2020, from

http://prp.jasonfoundation.com/facts/youth-suicide-statistics/