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Even before the COVID pandemic, the mental health and wellness of our young people was failing. The pandemic and made it difficult for them to access needed care; many health care systems are still struggling to meet the challenge. Though Mental Health Awareness Month is coming to an end, AHA will continue to track and share how behavioral health care specialists are working hard to improve access to timely, high quality behavioral health treatment for children and adolescents.

Today we released a podcast from a child and adolescent psychiatrist at West Virginia University about improving access to care for young people with mental health diagnoses who live in rural areas; we also have a new video about how Corewell Health is . This year, we’ll be digging deeper and telling the stories of how has trained nearly 100 providers across the state to help treat mild to moderate mental health conditions in young people and how a in New York addresses urgent behavioral health matters for the area’s youth. 

Behavioral Health Care for Life 

Just as physical needs change as people age, so do behavioral health care needs. We speak often about the need to “treat the whole person, mind and body;” now the conversation is evolving to treat the whole person for their whole life. 

The AHA is committed to highlighting how our member hospitals and health systems provide high quality, innovative behavioral health care, often through our Telling the Hospital Story project; we encourage you to submit how your organization is meeting the needs of your community. We also will continue to develop resources that help hospitals meet the needs of their communities. Our new infographic on behavioral health care in older adults and our recent podcast on breaking the stigma surrounding postpartum mental health show that we understand that behavioral health must be tailored to the patient. Nothing — not age, not location, not circumstance — should stop someone from becoming the healthiest version of themselves.