The goal of this project, which kicked off in early 2021, is to promote population mental health and well-being, reduce historic and emerging disparities, prevent mental health issues through scaling up evidence-based interventions, and build a new type of mental health workforce in communities throughout the United States.
“Our nation’s fragmented health system has created massive barriers for people who have mental health or addiction needs. Not having enough workforce is often blamed as part of that problem; however, we believe this is the wrong focus – it’s not about how many but where are they, who are they, and what are they doing,” said Benjamin Miller, PsyD, Chief Strategy Officer, Well Being Trust, a national foundation dedicated to addressing the most critical mental health challenges facing America.
“We recognize that any solution to solve our mental health workforce crisis does not only involve having more clinicians, but also broadening how we think about our workforce to allow for more timely interventions in the places people are showing up with mental health needs – mainly their communities e.g., their homes, barber shops and salons, and houses of worship.”