Mental Health

Your mental wellness is key to your overall health, and continues to be a priority when it comes to your health care. The uncertainty, isolation and collective trauma of the pandemic increased mental health challenges and also crystallized the importance of access to mental and behavioral health services.

What does making Mental Health a Priority mean?

In our 2022-2024 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), South Jersey residents in Inspira’s three-county region reported that mental health was a top issue in their community, followed by substance misuse such as illegal drug, alcohol and prescription drug use. Our focus is to provide resources to our community to increase access to mental health care and decrease the number of deaths from substance abuse.

We are working toward increasing access to mental health care by continuing to offer services via telemedicine, launching a psychiatry residency program, participating in County Inter-Agency Coordination Council (CIACC) meetings to coordinate services, recruiting Spanish-speaking providers and launching an awareness campaign of services available to the community. Inspira continues to support those experiencing substance use disorders with resources like safe medication disposal, a smoking cessation program and Narcan distribution.

Mental and Behavioral Health Efforts in Our Community

Inspira has several initiatives to improve access to mental health services in South Jersey: 

• Behavioral Health and Addictions Response Team: Links patients in emergency departments to desired care interventions 
• Narcan Distribution and Education: A lifesaving drug that can reverse the effects of opioid overdose 
• Deterra Distribution: A method for safe at-home medication disposal 
• Smoking and Tobacco Quit Center: Offers free assistance for people attempting to quit smoking, smokeless tobacco products or vaping 
• Project Effective Mental and Behavioral Health Emergency Diversion (EMBHED): Places a social worker in Millville 
• Police Department Youth Mental Health First Responder Certification for Emergency Medical Technicians: A program for training EMTs to address children with mental health issues 
• Cumberland County NJ Youth Violence Cessation Initiative: A collaborative effort to prevent and respond to community violence with mentoring, trauma counseling and recreation programs 
• LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion): This program offers a community-based alternative to incarceration and prosecution for individuals whose illegal activities arise from unaddressed needs related to substance abuse, mental health issues, or severe poverty.