Medicaid plays an essential role in ensuring millions of Americans managing mental health conditions receive the care they need.
Every May, we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM), a critical moment in time to spread awareness and advocate for policies that strengthen mental health care. Looking back on MHAM, the Modern Medicaid is showcasing the important work of our partners support Americans living with mental health conditions.
Facilitating Conversation and Reducing Stigma
Stamp Out Stigma, an initiative spearheaded by the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW) to reduce the stigma around mental illness and substance use disorders, launched a MHAM webpage this year. The webpage includes resources such as a MHAM communications toolkit, stories by individuals about their mental health journeys, and a person-centered language guide to help people appropriately communicate about mental illness and substance use disorders.
Throughout MHAM, Stamp Out Stigma hosted weekly #SOSChats on Twitter/X to create a space for open dialogue around topics such as Workplace Mental Health, Mental Health Empowerment and Advocacy, Self-Care and Mindfulness, and Mental Wellbeing and Stigma.
Advocating for a Stronger Medicaid
Over the past year, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has been advocating in support of reentry services, extended postpartum coverage, and institutions for mental diseases (IMD) exclusion waivers.
The NAMI team has written federal comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in support of state waiver proposals that include these provisions. NAMI provides extensive information on their website about the importance for a strong, sustainable Medicaid program as the largest payer of mental health services.
Spotlighting Children’s Mental Health
In recognition of Children’s Mental Health Acceptance Week (CMHAW) from May 5th – 11th, the National Federation of Families (NFF) ran an Acceptance Campaign with the theme “Lighting the Path to Social Justice for Children and Youth.”
The campaign featured an interactive pathway with footsteps linked to content from the organization’s affiliates, partners, and collaborating organizations, such as activities for children, youth, and families and a “31 Days to Advocacy Challenge.” In addition to providing resources, the campaign also included a robust social media strategy.
Beyond the CMHAW activation, NFF observed MHAM by focusing on the following themes in their educational and advocacy efforts: Supporting Families (all roles: grandparents, siblings, etc.), Lifespan Resources for Families, Co-Occurring Mental Health, and Substance Use Challenges.
Advancing Community Mental Health Care
National Association of Community Health Centers recently hosted a two-part webinar series titled “Fostering Effective Mental Health Services in Community Health Centers,” convening key stakeholders to illustrate pathways to advance the effective integration of mental health in community health centers.
The first part of the series provided a foundation for the continuum of severity of mental health needs and presented case studies of how community health centers are expanding behavioral health services. Part two of the series shared information about health center models of services implemented to provide substance use disorder and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (SUD-MOUD) services.
For more on how Medicaid supports Americans managing mental health conditions, check out our updated Medicaid and Mental Health Toolkit.