Still not feeling 100% yourself?
Neither are a lot of people, says Kelli Kane, chief operations officer for Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado region.
The demand for mental health services increased exponentially during the COVID pandemic, she said.
“If you think about what communities have been through, the amount of stress people have experienced and the growing mental health challenges, it’s important to provide a full complement of mental health services,” Kane said.
Kaiser Permanente, Colorado’s largest nonprofit health care provider, on Wednesday is rolling out an emotional coaching application accessible by smartphone, one of numerous new mental wellness tools that have emerged from different sources in recent months.
“If we can intervene early and help people develop coping skills for some of the more common emotional stressors we all experience — grief, loss, relationship issues, school or work challenges, dealing with aging parents — this can help prevent a more serious mental health issue,” Kane said.
A 2021 Colorado Health Access Survey showed that 38% of Coloradans over age 16 indicated a decline in their mental health as a result of the pandemic, citing anxiety, depression or loneliness.
More Coloradans reported poor mental health in 2021 than ever before; nearly 24% of respondents acknowledged having eight or more poor mental health days over the previous month.
At the same time, Colorado has ranked last in the nation for access to mental health care for adults, according to the 2022 State of Mental Health in America report.
“We’re in a critical moment for mental well-being for Coloradans,” Vincent Atchity, president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado said recently, in announcing a new campaign from his organization called, “What’s Your Peace?”
The effort showcases large and small ways residents are taking care of themselves and finding joy, strength or peace, and how such moments add up to improved well-being.
Spending time in nature, cuddling a dog, calling a friend, watching a sunrise or sunset, volunteering, fishing, running or doing other activities that make the heart sing are being shared at mentalhealthcolorado.org/whats-your-peace.
“This campaign celebrates the things we each do and will help inform others about how little things we work into our day can have a dramatic effect on our well-being,” Atchity said.
Strategies to promote mental wellness are proliferating.
The national, three-digit dialing crisis hotline, 988, is scheduled to go live on July 16 and will connect callers to suicide prevention and mental health counselors. Other hotlines will continue, including Colorado Crisis Services, 844-493-8255, or text “TALK” to 38255, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 800-273-8255, which topped 2.1 million calls in 2020.
This month, the Colorado Department of Human Services announced its new Early Childhood Mental Health Support Line, 833-326-4411, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The confidential service provides parents and caregivers of children under age 6 with counselors at no cost, who can discuss emotional needs of young children, changes in behavior, parenting stress and other topics. They’ll also recommend resources.
The Ginger emotional support app is being offered for free for 90 days for Colorado’s 525,000 members age 18 and over, Kane said.
Members can text with a “highly trained emotional coach,” Kane said. The service is available 24/7, with no doctor referral or appointment needed. Sign up at kp.org/coachingapps/co.
Participants can discuss problems, goals and action plans with their coaches and learn skills from more than 200 clinically validated activities and resource materials.
Participants may receive self-care tips, for example, if they are caught in a cycle of negative self-talk, feeling overwhelmed or like a particular situation is unsolvable.
“We will give techniques to help an individual change or reframe their thinking,” Kane said.
Someone who is not sleeping well may be advised about mindfulness techniques and developing other good habits.
Research shows 12 weeks is a beneficial time frame for people to learn skills needed to overcome emotional problems, Kane said.
Kaiser tested the Ginger application with 2,000 clinicians and 100,000 patients and received positive feedback on the usefulness of the intervention to prevent users’ mental health from spiraling downward, Kane said. Kaiser also offers a meditation calming application and a cognitive behavioral therapy application.
Intentional self-care doesn’t have to be a big lift, Mental Health Colorado’s Atchity said.
“Most of us already do small things each day that promote our own mental well-being, and we may not even realize it,” he said. “Now is the time to keep taking — or start taking — those small steps.”
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