For everyone in Wisconsin to live their best lives, we need more investment in the physical, mental, and emotional wellness of our communities.
That means addressing inequities and growing needs in mental and behavioral health.
The stresses and losses of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed mental and behavioral health systems to the brink, contributing to twin mental and behavioral health crises.
However, a number of behavioral health grants from a variety of funders are fueling innovative solutions and creative collaborations between researchers, health care providers, and community-based organizations to address this public health challenge.
It’s common to conflate the terms mental health and behavioral health. Let’s take a look at where these terms diverge.
Mental health care is often concerned with identifiable mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Mental health care professionals include licensed marriage and family therapists, mental health therapists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and gerontological social workers.
Where it gets complicated is when mental health conditions co-exist, or contribute to behavioral health issues.
Behavioral disorders have less to do with the biology of the brain and more to do with the actions people take to try to cope with trauma, mental health issues, or other problems.
According to University of Massachusetts Global, the following are some common behavioral disorders.
Behavioral health professionals include substance abuse counselors, school psychologists, clinical health psychologists, and addiction psychiatrists.
Wisconsin has some significant shortages in the systems that deliver behavioral health care, and some related health equity issues.
According to statistics from Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services, Wisconsin has the third highest percentage of adults who drink alcohol. Only Washington, D.C., and New Hampshire drink more than Wisconsinites. And we also rank third in the nation for binge drinking.
These numbers point to the need for more education and treatment for substance use disorders in our state, especially in underserved areas and populations.
Although mental and behavioral health care are not exactly the same, they do overlap in some critical ways. Wisconsin needs a concerted effort to address both.
A 2020 report prepared by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute for the Wisconsin Division of Health Services examined Wisconsin’s behavioral health care needs, gaps, and barriers.
The report shows that our state has shortages in
We also have
When the researchers asked people about the barriers to receiving quality behavioral health care, they mentioned the following factors:
One important strategy for closing these gaps and reducing barriers is funding. We need to invest in creative solutions that center these concerns and address the problems we face.
Organizations like the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment are working to address these systemic issues with behavioral health grants.
An important part of our mission is to fund solutions for understanding and treating the emotional, behavioral, and biological roots of mental wellness and substance use.
In 2016, AHW kicked off an eight-year $20 million commitment to address behavioral health outcomes statewide. A Advancing Behavioral Health Summit organized in 2018 brought together expert keynote speakers and leaders from 10 community coalitions from communities tackling this important issue.
Since then, our partners have been advancing brain and behavioral health by seeking solutions for brain conditions, diseases, and injuries, as well as understanding the emotional, behavioral, and biological roots of mental wellness and substance use.
Our funding opportunities include the following categories of grants:
We believe that we can work together to address the gaps and disparities in Wisconsin’s behavioral health system.