The Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health 2018 assessment revealed four areas of focus for the well-being of Columbia/Boone County residents.
The assessment reported on issues of basic needs, medical and dental health, and affordable housing options. One of the main issues the department noticed a difference in was mental health.
Jason Wilcox, the senior planner for the Department of Public Health and Human Services, said the change is most likely due to the decreased negative stigma on mental health since 2013 when the last assessment was released.
“We just heard it a lot more this time around than we did before,” Wilcox said. “It seemed to be called out and people weren’t so much afraid to talk about it. It just seemed like that was on everyone’s mind.”
One of the ways the department worked on shedding some light on mental illness was through the schools. Kelly Wallis, the Department Director for Boone County Community Services, said the survey for the assessment asked students K-12 how they felt about mental health.
“They’re acknowledging that yes, it is okay to have a mental health issue and that it is okay to ask for help,” Wallis said.
Wallis said this starkly contrasts the data gathered five years ago. She said the amount of mental health cases has not necessarily increased since 2013, but rather people feel more comfortable reporting it and talking about it now.
With this newly released information, the department’s next step is to organize committees to tackle individual issues head on.