May is Mental Health Awareness Month — a moment to confront a hard reality: New York’s mental health system isn’t just under strain, it is structurally understaffed.
More than three million adults are facing mental illness, substance abuse, or – often – both. Demand for care is significantly outpacing workforce growth, and the gap is widening. New York State faces an expected shortfall of between 1,180 and 2,650 psychiatrists by 2030, and 3.6 million New Yorkers live in communities without enough mental health professionals.
The consequences are serious, and often tragic. Effective treatment often requires complex medication regimens; however, one meta-analysis found that approximately half of patients with major psychiatric disorders do not fully adhere to their prescribed medication regimens. There are many reasons for this: multiple prescriptions, complicated dosing schedules and barriers such as cost, transportation or confusion about treatment.
These breakdowns ripple through the system, shifting pressure to emergency departments and inpatient care providers, both of which are already stretched too thin. The stakes are even higher for patients. Gaps in treatment can lead to relapse, increased risk of hospitalization or even life-threatening crises. Patients potentially must then navigate longer-term health and personal consequences, including strained family relationships, job loss, permanent dysfunction or homelessness.
Hiring and training more mental health professionals can help over time. Ensuring that providers can practice at the top of their license is also essential to strengthening the workforce. Under Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York has already taken steps in this direction. Late last year, the governor signed legislation that expands the scope of practice for pharmacy technicians across all settings, including community pharmacies.
New York must integrate pharmacists into mental health teams
But today, New York can also ease the challenge by making better use of the qualified, experienced and trusted professionals already working in our state. One of the most immediate and underutilized opportunities: meaningfully integrating pharmacists into mental health care teams.
Patients see their pharmacists almost twice as often as they visit their own physician, yet they are often siloed from the rest of the care team. They are recognized, accessible and trusted health care professionals, in addition to being highly trained in medication management, drug interactions, side effects and patient counseling.
This approach is already in action in more than 20 community-based mental health centers across New York. In these facilities, Genoa Healthcare pharmacists work alongside behavioral health providers co-located in community-based mental health centers to leverage their expertise in medication management as an essential part of patients’ care, not an afterthought.
These on-site, full-service pharmacies serve individuals living with serious mental health and other complex chronic conditions in partnership with community-based providers. Their pharmacists help patients adhere to medication and care plans, answer questions about their care and even offer tailored services like free delivery and synchronized prescription refills so patients can conveniently access all medications in a single trip.
Integrated pharmacy partnerships can deliver the consistent access to medication that patients deserve, helping prevent gaps in mental health care while also providing coordinated care so patients can continue making progress. This integration also brings more members of a patient’s care team together — something that is vital, especially for New Yorkers grappling with mental health afflictions.
When individuals with mental illness can’t receive the proper care, it affects their ability to work, to socialize or even get out of bed — impacting their professional and personal lives. This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s improve access, support patients and build a more resilient system for the future. Expanding the role of pharmacists in patient care is a practical, scalable way to strengthen care teams and improve outcomes now.
Ryan Garcia is an experienced pharmacist and pharmacy site manager at Genoa Healthcare in Copiague, New York.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: How pharmacists can solve NY’s mental health care crisis | Opinion
Reporting by Ryan Garcia, Special to the USA TODAY Network / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
