Collaboration and Service Improvement:

• Three Community Mental Health Agencies in the region will become Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers by 2026. 

• Work with law enforcement agencies to increase use of mobile mental health crisis response to improve connections between individuals in crisis and community-based services.

• Facilitate a process to improve navigation of health insurance options, social service programs, and other resources available to people in need to identify and close gaps. Implement or create a tool to increase access to information and increase coordination among providers. 

• To increase the connection of individuals aged 50+ to needed resources in the region. 

Education:

• Increase the number of community members trained in Mental Health First Aid to reduce stigma and increase appropriate responses to people in mental health crises. 

• Increase the number of community members trained in CONNECT Suicide Prevention to reduce stigma and increase appropriate responses to people in mental health crisis.

• Promote resources for mental health crisis response to increase community awareness of appropriate services based on need

• Promote and replicate (as needed) Mental Health Resource Guide created by MAHHC. 

Advocacy:

• Host Bi-State Legislative Breakfast every two years to engage state policymakers in discussion of local health priorities. 

Equity: 

• Conduct a systematic review of health care and behavioral health care access in the Upper Valley from the perspective of traditionally marginalized groups and their overall wellbeing. 

• Increase capacity of grassroots and small organizations representing people with lived experience of health inequities to address the concerns of their communities independently through grantmaking and technical assistance. 

• Improve referral networks and capacity to support vulnerable populations in the places where they live.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), more than one in five adults in the United States live with a mental health condition. Positive mental health corresponds to a person's ability to live a healthy, satisfying life. Best practices for improving community mental health include using evidence-based practices and increasing the number of providers to better meet the need of the United States population.

• West Central Behavioral Health (WCBH)
• Health Care & Rehabilitation Services (HCRS)
• Clara Martin Center
• Public Health Council (PHC)
• Service Link
• Area Council on Aging Partners
• Upper Valley Service Coordinators Roundtable
• Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC)
• Dartmouth-Hitchcock All Together
• Dartmouth-Hitchcock Injury Prevention Center
• National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire (NAMI-NH)
• Headrest
• Upper Valley Equity Anti-Racism (UVEAR) Leadership Team 
• Upper Valley Community Health Equity Partnership (UVCHEP) Steering Committee

Data Overview: The CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) compiles data about poor mental health days reported in the last 30 days. They call approximately 400,000 people each year as a representative sample to estimate metrics describing the United States population by county. 

Limitations: Considering the limitations of data modeling and methodology changes in 2016 and 2021 is important before using this metric to track progress. The BRFSS introduced changes in their methodology in both 2016 and 2021. Before 2016, the BRFSS collected data exclusively from landline phones. In 2021, they changed their estimation procedures to create more accurate small-area estimates.