Everyone has days where they just don’t feel like themselves, but when the bad days start to outnumber the good days, it may be time to consult a mental health professional. Luckily, Grove City has a wealth of trusted healthcare providers and the numbers are growing, particularly for children in need of mental health care.
If your child is struggling with their mental health, they aren’t alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011-2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data found that American students’ mental health is on an overall declining trend.
The study results indicate that “the percentage of students across every racial and ethnic group who felt persistently sad or hopeless increased,” and, “in 2021, 22% of high school students seriously considered attempting suicide during the past year.”
With this increasing need for mental health treatment putting a strain on existing care facilities, Buckeye Ranch and Nationwide Children’s Hospital have partnered to open a new facility in an effort to provide the best possible care for children and adolescents struggling with severe mental illness and behavioral issues.
Recognizing the Need
Seeing a counselor regularly and practicing self-care are great ways to improve and maintain positive mental health, but some children may need more attention.
If a child displays signs of a mental health emergency – such as experiencing thoughts of self-harming or suicide – experts at Nationwide Children’s or Buckeye Ranch can admit them to an inpatient facility for their safety. While they can be closely monitored and cared for, when they leave inpatient care, the path forward isn’t always certain. Aileen Hoffman, vice president at Nationwide Children’s, says that while the goal is getting the child back home to their family, there is a fear that they may not be well enough to return to their home lives. This is where the new facility comes in.
“A lot of times, our patients that are coming to the inpatient unit, we’re having trouble getting them to another level of care once we stabilize them here in the hospital,” Hoffman says. “So sometimes they stay here unnecessarily for a longer period of time until we can find a placement for them, and then sometimes that placement is out of state, so it’s really far away.”
This new 57,000-square-foot facility in Grove City helps to bridge the gap in care between the hospital and home, in the hopes that fewer children fall back into crisis after being discharged. It will also open more beds to children actively in crisis who need the highest level of care.
More Than Therapy
The top priority of staff at the facility is safety. On campus at Buckeye Ranch, patients, supervised by staff, walk as a group to nearby buildings when they need to utilize recreational spaces.
By providing all the necessary resources in a single building, the new facility gives patients more independence while also allowing for greater security, as staff can watch over them wherever they are on campus.
Not only will patients at this new facility receive the care they need, they will also continue their education at the facility through South-Western City Schools.
“We’ve learned through that mental health program and education program that we can combine education and mental health treatment physically by giving kids classrooms attached to one another,” Vicki Thompson-Sandy, president and CEO at Buckeye Ranch, says.
Patients will also have easy access to a gymnasium within the facility, providing a place where they can blow off steam while still being monitored for safety.
Being closer to home, families can visit their loved ones more conveniently. The building’s welcome center will serve as a meeting space to allow parents and other trusted adults to be more involved in the child’s recovery.
“We really believe that children thrive in their own family and in their own community and so that’s exactly where we want kids to be,” says Thompson-Sandy. “It’s important that parents understand what to do, understand the signs to look for and feel confident that they can parent that child.”
Community Care
While poor mental health isn’t always caused by outside factors, problems at home and within the child’s community can exacerbate mental and behavioral health issues. Studies have shown that socioeconomic factors such as unstable housing, poverty and witnessing violence can negatively affect the mental health of both adults and their children.
One cohort study conducted in Germany found that “children and adolescents with a low socioeconomic status suffer from multiple stressful life situations and are exposed to a higher risk of developing mental health problems. The findings suggest that the reduction of socioeconomic inequalities and interventions for families with low parental education might help to reduce children’s mental health problems.”
Social factors, like being bullied or conflicts with peers and feeling disconnected from their community, can also negatively impact young people’s mental health. Helping children build healthy self-esteem and surrounding them with a strong support system can help mitigate these problems.
Parents, educators and other members of the community can take steps to build a more stable and safe community for our youngest residents. This includes refusing to perpetuate the stigma against mental illness and maintaining safe spaces where children won’t feel ashamed to talk about their mental health.
Showing kindness and being open, as well as modeling healthy relationships and healthy coping skills, are actions anyone can take that make a big difference.
For more resources and information regarding children’s mental health, visit Nationwide Children’s On Our Sleeves Movement at www.onoursleeves.org
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
