| Overview
America’s HealthTogether (AHT) has pioneered a groundbreaking
partnership among the nation’s leading mental health and primary
care organizations to respond to America’s new exposure to homeland
terrorism. Fully supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this
national initiative seeks to enhance primary care providers’ awareness
of mental health issues and strengthen their capacity to care for their
patients’ emotional and psychological needs.
Why Now?
The events of September 11 unleashed a mental health fallout
for which we have no blueprint. As communities continue to adjust to and
cope with unfamiliar and unprecedented levels of anxiety and trauma, experts
agree that the impact of the terrorist attacks is far-reaching. Initial
studies exploring the mental health consequences from September 11 indicate
that as many as 500,000 people in New York City alone continue to experience
significant stress. However, the ripple effects extend beyond geographic
boundaries and beyond the first year anniversary. As the New York Times
put it, the “severest cases are slow to show,” leaving us to
wonder how different people, with different histories, will fare as time
passes and new threats emerge.
While charitable organizations are offering free counseling
for people in need, those deeply affected do not always recognize or acknowledge
their own troubles. Many Americans continue to suffer from sleep disturbances,
anxiety, depression, and other physical symptoms as a result of 9/11, yet
they may not associate their symptoms with the trauma they experienced
or witnessed. Their burdens, however, require attention and help.
The Front Line: Primary Care
America’s primary health care system is increasingly
recognized as the nation’s de facto mental health system. Whether
due to the stigma of seeking psychological support or to inadequate benefits,
reports reveal that as many as 75 percent of all primary care visits
can be attributed to psychosocial problems that manifest in physical complaints.
As Americans grapple with a changed landscape, it is to these family doctors,
nurse practitioners, pediatricians, general internists and community health
clinicians that many will bring evidence of distress or disorder.
Primary care providers’ insufficient time, training
and resources to identify and handle psychological problems too
often precludes their proper attention. As a consequence, mental
health issues in primary care can go undetected and untreated, allowing
for acute reactions to evolve into chronic conditions and for the
misdirection of health care dollars.
Facing Fear Together is coordinated by America's HealthTogether.
Click here to visit the AHT website.
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