<
https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2022/10/25/mental-health-colorado>
"Jeff White knows what can happen when 911 dispatchers receive a call about
someone who feels despondent or agitated.
He experienced it repeatedly: The 911 operators dispatched police, who often
took him to a hospital or jail. “They don’t know how to handle people like me,”
said White, who struggles with depression and schizophrenia. “They just don’t.
They’re just guessing.”
In most of those instances, he said, what he really needed was someone to help
him calm down and find follow-up care.
That’s now an option, thanks to a crisis response team serving his area.
Instead of calling 911, he can contact a state-run hotline and request a visit
from mental health professionals.
The teams are dispatched by a program that serves 18 mostly rural counties in
central and northern Iowa. White, 55, has received assistance from the crisis
team several times in recent years, even after heart problems forced him to
move into a nursing home. The service costs him nothing. The team’s goal is to
stabilize people at home instead of admitting them to a crowded psychiatric
unit or jailing them for behaviors stemming from mental illness.
For years, many cities have sent social workers, medics, trained outreach
workers, or mental health professionals to calls that previously were handled
by police officers. And the approach gained traction amid concerns about police
brutality cases. Proponents say such programs save money and lives.
But crisis response teams have been slower to catch on in rural areas even
though mental illness is just as prevalent there. That’s partly because those
areas are bigger and have fewer mental health professionals than cities do,
said Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer for the National Alliance on
Mental Illness.
“It certainly has been a harder hill to climb,” she said."
Via
The Fixer November 2, 2022:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/new-york-car-free-open-streets-businesses/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
