The Springfield area has a new website focused on mental health.
Cara Erwin, community wellness coordinator for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, said it’s a comprehensive, local resource hub to help people better understand their mental health. They’ll find tips and treatment options for any mental health concerns on the website.
She said it’s a collaborative effort of several area organizations: the health department, Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Burrell Behavioral Health, CoxHealth, Mercy, Jordan Valley Community Health Center, NAMI of Southwest Missouri and KY3. The goal is to help people know all of the options available to help them with any mental health concerns "because we are very lucky in our community to have a lot of resources, and it can be confusing and overwhelming to try to figure out what works best for us individually," said Erwin, "and so this hub — this online resource — is really a tool to be able to bring all of those resources and treatment options together so individuals can figure out what works best for them."
The 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment found that people in Greene, Christian and Webster Counties experience poor mental health at a higher rate than people in the rest of the state and the U.S., according to the health department.
More than 24 percent of people in the Springfield community experience depression, compared to 21 percent in Missouri and 18 percent in the U.S. The rate of deaths from suicide is 20 percent higher than Missouri and 60 percent higher than the U.S. average.
But Erwin said the area also has a higher number of providers per capita than other communities.
"So, it's not a matter of not having the resources available, it's an issue of access and stigma," she said, "and so that's really the two things that we're trying to address with this hub."
She said they want people to not hesitate to reach out for help when they need it and to know the different options available to them.
You can access the new mental health website at mentalhealth417.com.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach a trained crisis counselor.
