IU: Marion County mental health needs largely untreated
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About 26,000 Marion County residents with a serious mental illness did not receive necessary care last year, an Indiana University study says.
The report found that amounts to 66% of people who needed help but did not receive it, highlighting care accessibility issues in the county.
“This can often be a difficult population to reach,” Marion Greene, IUPUI public health assistant professor, said in a news release. “Community mental health centers do a tremendous job reaching out to and supporting this population. But the reality is that this is a resource-constrained environment, with a lot of good people doing work on shoestring budgets.”
The LGBTQ community, incarcerated people, people experiencing housing instability or homelessness and people of color are most vulnerable to not receive adequate care, the study said.
The report added that access to care was tightened due to mental health workforce shortages, health system complexity as well as transportation and internet connection issues.
Using data from four local community health centers and other Census and government-collected data, researchers estimate the county saw:
- Over 58,000 adults with an alcohol and or illicit drug use disorder.
- Over 163,000 adults with some type of mental illness.
- Over 39,000 adults with a serious mental illness.
- Nearly 41,000 adults with serious thoughts of suicide.
- Nearly 14,000 adults with a suicide plan.
- Over 5,000 adults who attempted suicide.
The study results culminated with five recommendations to improve access to care in the county. This includes sustainable community mental health center funding, workforce development investments, treatment and services access increases, cross-sector coordination catalysts and initiatives to reduce stigma.
“In public health, we work to reduce barriers to accessing care,” Greene said. “When one in five Hoosiers are affected by some mental illness, it is not just marginalized communities who are impacted by a lack of services. To reduce these obstacles, we need more funding for our mental health system in Marion County.”
The Indiana legislature passed a bill earlier this year allotting more funds toward mental health care and infrastructure. However, while seen as a step in the right direction, supporters said the amount was not enough to adequately treat the state’s mental health crisis.