Mayor Scott Fadness started the news conference on mental health by reviewing some events in Fishers during the last week. One woman was found outside a building, having just ingested a large number of pills trying to end her life. A 13-year-old girl was described as out of control, refusing to take her medication after a violent outbreak and police considered her to be a danger to herself and her family. A juvenile took prescription medications in an attempt to end his life.
Mayor Fadness wanted to remind Fishers residents our suburban city is not immune to these sorts of events. They happen every week.
When Scott Fadness assumed the office of mayor on January 1, 2015, one of his first actions was to create the Mental Health Task Force. It joined together a number of people from around the Fishers community, including local school officials and health professionals.
The city hall event November 17th was to unveil the task force report.
The mission statement is “to develop a community that embraces mental health treatment before crises occur, protect the welfare and safety of Fishers residents and take a systemic approach to mental health challenges in the community.”
There are six basic recommendations from the task force to improve mental health in Fishers. Here’s a summary of each.
–An education program will be launched for members of the Fishers Police and Fire Departments. Community Health will partner with the city to provide this training.
–There will be a quarterly review of police and fire response to mental health runs in an effort to learn more about what is happening in the community. Once again, Community Health will partner with the city in analyzing the data.
–The city will look to partner with behavioral health providers at Community’s Health Network, and will explore ways to get the full benefit of Aspire Indiana, an area non-profit community health center.
–A plan will be developed for the Hamilton Southeastern School System. This plan will include training to help identify mental health issues and ensure students are given the opportunity to receive necessary help and treatment for mental health issues. The plan calls for an annual checkup on how the schools are doing with the mental health initiative.
–There will be a youth training plan developed with Fishers Public Safety officials.
–A public relations program will be launched, which will include a pre-campaign survey among Fishers residents to determine a baseline measurement for community awareness. That will be followed with another survey after campaign actions have been completed, to determine the program’s effectiveness and look for additional community needs.
There are two other important recommendations in this report.
There will be a remodeled paramedicine program for first responders in Fishers. The Fire and Emergency Services department has successfully reduced hospital readmission of congestive heart failure patients by providing direct follow-up through a new community paramedicine program though a partnership with Community Health Network. The task force hopes to use this program as a model to get mental health patients the follow-up care and support they need.
Community Health will create an Intensive Care Coordination pilot program for youth discharged from mental health inpatient services. Young people will have an Intensive Care Coordinator when they leave the hospital to support follow-up care. Community Health Network says it is interested in working with the staff at Hamilton Southeastern Schools and Fishers public safety officials to promote a successful transition after a mental health patient is released from the hospital.
The task force intends to continue its work, citing a fact that cannot be ignored – suicide is the second leading cause of death among Hoosiers ages 15-34. The report contains an annual checkup to review what is happening with the many moving parts in the task force’s work.
More details on the Mental Health Task Force report can be found at this link.
