Mental health identified as the top health priority in Glendale
Mental health has surpassed obesity as the top health priority for Glendale during the past three years, according to a triennial health assessment among local hospitals and healthcare professionals.
The assessment results — presented last week by the Glendale Healthier Community Coalition to more than 30 healthcare representatives — listed mental health, obesity and substance abuse as the top three public health issues affecting quality and length of life.
The Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) is state-mandated analysis of data collected from the area since 2013, ranking the most urgent health needs among three Glendale hospitals — Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital, Glendale Adventist Medical Center and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. The assessment was conducted in collaboration with the GHCC and the Center for Nonprofit Management as consultants.
Still, agreeing on the most pressing health needs for the area represents only the preliminary stages of addressing the issue, says Cassie McCarty, director of Mission Integration at Glendale Memorial.
“Each individual hospital now has to create an implementation plan, and in developing that process we talk with our senior leaders, we connect back with one another,” McCarty said. “We understand that to have the type of impact that we want, we really need to partner with our community to improve the quality of life, specifically looking at these top priorities.”
Hospitals will now develop programs and strategies for the next three years that will focus on education and support, as well as health services for their designated areas.
According to the CHNA, it means dealing with mental health hospitalization rates among adults in Glendale almost twice the rate of Los Angeles County. Anxiety and depression rates in Glendale were also about one percent above the county, at seven and nine percent, respectively.
“Something that is also important to note is that there’s is a stigma associated with seeking mental health help,” said Center for Nonprofit Management’s Sarah Flores at the meeting where the results were discussed. “So what is happening to that person that feels they don’t have emotional support in the community? They are probably going unnoticed and they’re probably not seeking the help that they need.”
Sharon Law, assistant program director of child and family mental health services at Didi Hirsch Glendale, met with the GHCC in developing this year’s CHNA. She listed numerous mental health concerns such as funding restrictions and a lack of no- or low-cost relationship counseling, among other issues.
“[We] are thinking of ways to step up our collaboration with the GHCC,” Law said in an email. “We have thought about ideas like providing possible presentations about the importance of mental health and early interventions.”
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Jeff Landa, jeff.landa@latimes.com
Twitter: @JeffLanda
