By PAT MELGARES
K-State Research and Extension news service
An annual national report that rates the state of mental health in the United States indicates that Kansas communities have made significant positive progress recently, says a Kansas State University health specialist.
Elaine Johannes, the Kansas Health Foundation’s Distinguished Professor of Community Health at K-State, said the state has moved from No. 51 in the 2022 rankings – essentially last among all 50 states and the District of Columbia – to No. 22 in the 2024 report, which contains the most recent data available.
The data is published annually by Mental Health America, a non-profit organization that promotes mental health, well-being and illness prevention in the United States.
“I do have to give a shout out to our state legislature, which made some policy changes that opened up access to mental health care,” Johannes said. “One of those was that Kansas become one of the first states to use what is known as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, or CCBHC.”
Listen to an interview by Jeff Wichman with Elaine Johannes on the weekly radio program, Sound Living below.
In Kansas, CCBHC sites work to increase access to community-based mental health and substance use disorder services, as well as integrate behavioral health with physical health care. Currently, there are 26 CCBHC sites in Kansas.
“Prior to the COVID pandemic, people seemed to separate their behavioral health needs from their physical health needs,” Johannes said. “But, as humans, we are holistic beings. If we are stressed, we are probably going to have a gastrointestinal issue. If we’re hypertensive, our high blood pressure may lead to feelings of worry and anxiety which influences changes in quality sleep, which aggravates high blood pressure. Consequently, it could be a vicious cycle.”
“So, having the governor (Laura Kelly) and the state legislature and many others pitch in and start offering this new way of doing mental health care seems to be working.”
Johannes acknowledged that Kansas’ improvement in the national rankings also may be a result of how survey questionnaires are developed and Kansan’s willingness to discuss their mental health concerns and avenues they’ve pursued for help.
Nonetheless, she adds, “suicide is a desperate and very concerning issue, and it affects Kansans.”
Mental Health America’s report for 2023 indicates Kansas is No. 24 for adult mental health, and No. 16 for mental health among younger age groups.
“Suicide gets a lot of attention, and it should because it is a serious issue,” Johannes said. “But one thing that is sometimes ignored is how resilient Kansans and our communities are. In particular, coming out of the pandemic, there are some positive things that happened and I think we may actually be on an upswing in regards to mental health in our state.”
Johannes notes that Kansas may still have work to do in making community-level therapists available, particularly in rural areas of the state. She said recruiting and retaining therapists and paying them for their services can sometimes be a barrier to providing mental health care.
“As Kansans, I think we should still be asking ourselves if there are ways that we can create more resilience in our communities so that more people can be connected to mental health care,” Johannes said.
A longer discussion with Johannes on the topic is available on the weekly radio program, Sound Living, produced by K-State Research and Extension.