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Rosalynn Carter Journalism Fellowship Program offers free online course on responsible mental health reporting and journalists’ self-care

By Susan Whisnant Since its inception in 1996, the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism program has been training a select group of reporters each year in Atlanta (or virtually during the pandemic) on how to report accurately and sensitively on mental health topics. Now, journalists taking care of…

©Bobbi Wiseman/Memorial Health: Barbara Wheatley takes phone calls as part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network. Wheatley is an alcohol and substance abuse counselor and the lead clinician for mobile crisis response for Memorial Behavioral Health in Springfield, Illinois.

A new national mental health crisis line launches soon. Some states aren’t ready.

From Side Effects Public Media

Staff at Memorial Behavioral Health in Springfield, Illinois, are on call around the clock to talk with people struggling with suicidal thoughts, drug addiction or other mental health crises. They provide a listening ear and help connect people to resources or crisis support, if needed.

©Clare Sheedy/PublicSource: Elaine Houston sits in her East Liberty home where she takes her remote telehealth appointments.

PA eased telehealth regulations during the pandemic. What happens if the waiver expires?

From PublicSource

At first, the pandemic actually kept us in our homes. Y’all remember that? Being on lockdown? For many, COVID and the response to it only intensified the need for health care. And by health care, I mean physical and mental.

©Riley Bunch/GPB: News Officers from law enforcement departments that have already implemented co-responder units gather at the Georgia Capitol on May 9 to watch Gov. Brian Kemp sign Senate Bill 403.

Law enforcement enlists mental health experts to help save lives — ‘a paradigm shift in policing’

From Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB)

Sometimes when Savannah Police Department officers are called to a scene of a crisis, those who respond may not look like police at all.

Latha Wright, a 16-year-old Atlanta student, says mental health is misunderstood. She posed for a portrait in her home on May 25, 2022. ©Arvin Temkar/AJC

Georgia students’ private battle: Anxiety disorders in the classroom

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Latha Wright studies Latin, draws her own comics and films videos with her little brother.

McKinley Reid, Audrianna Guerrero and Sydney Judge are all part of Girl Scout Troop 5596. They started working on activities for their Okay to Say mental health badge in April. "We were learning about stress and empathy and gratitude," Judge explained. ©Trevon McWilliams/KERA

The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas are tackling mental health, one patch at a time

From KERA

Troop 5596 gathered around tables at the Methodist church in Justin, a community about 25 miles north of Fort Worth, one afternoon in late April. Groups of two and three girls were huddled over worksheets, talking about mindfulness and stress—and there was plenty to say.

Kayode Martin, center, participates in a spiritual reflection group session at an Inner-City Muslim Action Network facility in Chicago Lawn on March 2, 2022. ©Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune

In a pandemic, people might know they need food or housing. But how do you help them realize they also need therapy?

From the Chicago Tribune

As the pandemic wore on, Kayode Martin felt stuck. He’d graduated virtually, a high school senior when COVID-19 arrived in Chicago. A year later, in 2021, he was working at a store but struggling to find a routine that felt on good footing.

©Chris Montgomery / Unsplash

Mental health care at work: Roundup of recent research on employee assistance programs

From The Journalist’s Resource, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University

The Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires that health insurers provide the same coverage for mental health treatment as they do physical health care.

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Achieving mental health parity: The struggle to get insurance plans to improve coverage of mental health care

From The Journalist’s Resource, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University

In a 54-page report to Congress in January, three federal agencies describe how difficult it has been to get health insurance plans and issuers to follow a 14-year-old federal law aimed at eliminating discrimination in coverage of mental health care.

©chenspec from Pixabay

Racial disparities in mental health care: An explainer and research roundup

From The Journalist’s Resource, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard University

In January 2001, the office of the U.S. Surgeon General issued a report about mental health disparities affecting racial and ethnic minorities.