Katie Narvaez, Northwest
Mental health and wellbeing: it’s one of our nation’s biggest hot-button issues. With suicide rates in resort mountain communities spiking and anxiety and depression related emergency room visits skyrocketing; it’s also taking center stage for many leaders in Eagle County. Our mountain community is now focusing toward transforming services and outcomes for this very real crisis.
Anyone working with young children and families knows that mental health wellbeing affects everyone in a household and strong foundations begin before birth. It’s in the best interest of a community to prioritize prevention services and crisis care that will be sustainable and fits across the spectrum of life. This system must also work to ensure that all people within our diverse community have equal access to these critical supports within a culturally responsive model.
Anyone working with young children and families knows that mental health wellbeing affects everyone in a household and strong foundations begin before birth. It’s in the best interest of a community to prioritize prevention services and crisis care that will be sustainable and fits across the spectrum of life. This system must also work to ensure that all people within our diverse community have equal access to these critical supports within a culturally responsive model.
Too often we see our most vulnerable community members underrepresented or underutilized when it comes to planning and creating in partnership with community organizations to develop the services they are expected to utilize. Through an action research process, I focused my efforts to learn more about how parents and their young children are experiencing mental health wellbeing in our community. Families were vulnerable, curious, frustrated and had so much they wanted others to know. One parent expressed her frustration, “I needed support for my child. He’s bilingual and got that support, but when it came time for my husband and I to meet with our child and their therapist, so much was lost in translation and we were unable to support my child with all the things they were learning and hearing from the therapist. Then people thought we didn’t want to follow through.”
Where families want to access supports and services may be just as important as having the services available in the first place. Overwhelmingly parents suggested having services and supports available in the places they frequent on a daily basis. A group of parents agreed, “Have it available everywhere: at schools, in childcares, at libraries. Make it normal to see and easy to access. Clinics and hospitals are often depressing, sterile and not at all welcoming.”
Parents agreed that families need more access to things that can help children and families have positive experiences and build healthy brains, such as better access to preschool and other early childhood supports. Rather than sitting on waitlists, families would benefit from having fewer restrictive qualifying criteria that prevents so many from accessing high quality programming that builds solid foundations. This preventative model would return those investment dollars in spades.
We have a commitment to build a more resilient, mentally healthy, stable community. We owe it to everyone to ensure that all voices are brought to the table at every step along the way and that the supports made available are the right fit for everyone that call our beautiful community home. Throughout my journey with the Buell program, I have learned the critical lesson of discovering with others. Taking the time to allow others to be heard is empowering. I’m listening, will you?
We have a commitment to build a more resilient, mentally healthy, stable community. We owe it to everyone to ensure that all voices are brought to the table at every step along the way and that the supports made available are the right fit for everyone that call our beautiful community home. Throughout my journey with the Buell program, I have learned the critical lesson of discovering with others. Taking the time to allow others to be heard is empowering. I’m listening, will you?