As care providers pivot to prioritize mental health care in their communities, a new survey finds the issue is a top concern for many people across the region.
On Thursday, Great Rivers United Way released its triennial Compass Now Report, which revealed that the top concerns in the region are mental health, access to health care, socio-economic issues, nutrition and physical activity, and substance abuse.
“Mental health was identified as the highest need this year. It’s a priority in every county involved in the Compass Report,” said Liz Evans, community impact director for Great Rivers United Way. “It’s great that people are caring and talking about it. The community is aware of this need.”
The front of Tellurian’s new mental health facility in La Crosse on Thursday, May 23. The building will house up to eight patients at a time.
Saskia Hatvany River Valley Media Group File Photo
The three-year report, which compiled three years of research and data from La Crosse, Buffalo, Monroe, Trempealeau and Vernon counties in Wisconsin and Houston County in Minnesota, reemphasized mental health as a top concern and reinforced data from a 2021 report that highlighted mental health as a top priority across the region.
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“The community is united around these issues. It’s no longer an issue on which people can remain silent,” Evans said. “If we identify the issues and address them, it gives us hope that we can work together to find solutions.”
Evans
According to the report, mental health is the top concern in Houston, La Crosse, Trempealeau and Vernon counties, while Buffalo and Monroe counties rank it as their second and fourth priority, respectively.
“Mental health is just as important as physical health,” says Sarah Havens, Gundersen’s director of public health. “It’s important to look at patients holistically: what’s going on physically, but also what’s going on emotionally and mentally, because mental and emotional health impacts physical health.”
Other experts saw links between mental health and other high-priority issues in the report, particularly as many people became socially isolated and faced new economic hardships in the wake of the pandemic.
“These things are so interconnected. Addressing one is addressing another,” said Kaylee Day, a senior manager at the American Lung Association. “Mental health emerged as one of the top needs. It’s one of those issues that is so intricately woven into a lot of the social and economic needs that we see.”
Day previously worked at the Monroe County Health Department, where the department used the report’s data to prioritize and address community needs through conversations, school programs and grant funding.
“We take that data and turn it into a solution,” Day said.
Using the researched data and taking into account the advice of local health systems, county health departments and other experts, the data will help develop optimal strategies and solutions to key issues affecting people in our community.
