From the President’s Commission on Mental Health
recommendations: 6.1 Use health technology and telehealth to
improve access and coordination of mental health care, especially
for Americans in remote areas or in underserved populations.
6.2 Develop and implement integrated electronic health record and
personal health information systems.
Preventing mental illnesses remains a promise of the future.
Granted, the best option is to avoid or delay the onset of any
illness, but the Executive Order directed the Commission to conduct
a comprehensive study of the delivery of mental health services.
The Commission recognizes that it is better to prevent an illness
than to treat it, but unmet needs and barriers to services must
first be identified to reach the millions of Americans with
existing mental illnesses who are deterred from seeking help. The
barriers may exist for a variety of reasons:
Stigma,
Fragmented services,
Cost,
Workforce shortages,
Unavailable services, and
Not knowing where or how to get care.
These barriers are all discussed in this report.
