Providence’s Well Being Trust strongly applauds President Biden’s focus on mental health, suicide prevention, and the opioid and overdose epidemic during his State of the Union Address.
“We are living in times of unprecedented stressors. With 40% of American adults reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression and the nearly 30% rise in children and adolescents with anxiety and depression, we must act now to improve mental health for all,” said Arpan Waghray, M.D., CEO, Providence’s Well Being Trust.
During his address, President Biden referenced the following as priority areas:
- Supporting the mental health of the health care workforce.
- Promoting youth resilience.
- Improving school-based mental health.
- Strengthening parity.
- Enhancing crisis services.
- Expanding access to telehealth.
- Recruiting diverse candidates to the mental health profession.
- Prioritizing research.
- Beating the opioid and overdose epidemic by accelerating the crackdown on fentanyl trafficking and public health efforts to save lives.
- Expanding access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery.
At Providence’s Well Being Trust, we are guided by our mission that calls us to advance the mental, social, and spiritual health for all. That’s why we are working to transform the way care is delivered and to address the greatest mental health needs in our communities and nationally, with a special focus on youth.
Several of the efforts laid out in the four-part Unity Agenda that address tackling the mental health crisis and beating the opioid and overdose epidemic are closely aligned with the work we’re doing throughout Providence’s Well Being Trust including:
- Easing access to care and to the determinants of well-being.
- Building resilience in children, teens, and families.
- Reducing suffering from depression, anxiety and social isolation.
- Decreasing addiction and substance use, while promoting recovery.
- Eliminating disparities in mental health and substance use access and quality outcomes.
- Creating hope for people and families living with serious mental illness.
- Eliminating stigma everywhere, and growing a culture of well-being to create healthy, resilient communities.
- Improving the mental health and well-being of all health care workers.
We are working to expand behavioral health access and measurably improve clinical outcomes and to create a learning laboratory to share tools and resources with health care systems and communities nationwide, while continuing to advance our work with like-minded partners.
Read the full STOU Fact Sheet here, and view the full transcript of the President’s State of the Union Address here.
