08.05.20 COVID-19 Briefing Live Stream Transcript

The County of Santa Clara
August 03, 2020
Live Stream - Briefing Live stream
10:00am PT

Larry Little: Hi everybody thank you for joining us I’m Larry Little we begin this program this morning with a special focus on mental health. I'm joined this morning by David MIneta CEO and president of momentum for health and in just a few moments we will discuss how this pandemic is affecting Santa Clara county. But first i want to let you know that we have removed our facial coverings for this segment so that everyone including our ASL american sign language interpreters can properly communicate and understand the information that we will be sharing. This morning thank you for being here David I know you have been busy since this pandemic started and it looks like there is no end in sight. I was reading an article in the mercury news great article by Martha Ross and it said that people may we have lost access to the things that normally keep us well and people may have resorted to less healthy coping mechanisms to survive. You know people have lost loved one’s jobs some have had to close their businesses we don't know if if or when school will start back uh people are facing food insecurity uh some people are unemployed some people may face unemployment in the future and the list just goes on and on. What are you experiencing at your agency right now? Out what is what's happening in the community well?

David Mineta: Um thank you Larry for this opportunity to be here with you today to discuss both mental health and I also want to include the substance abuse disorder side of the house as well. We call both of those mental health and the addiction side behavioral health. So, in Santa Clara in Santa Clara on the behavioral health um sort of climate environment. I I’m not sure if we've ever seen anything quite like this. And meaning both the depth and the breadth of the behavioral health issues not just here in Santa Clara county. Regionally across the state across the Country and the stresses that we're all under are enormous so folks what we're seeing is that folks who didn't have a behavioral health disorder or condition some many of us are starting to feel like we're experiencing that now. And you could be tired you're irritable you're more um shorter attention span so you know it feels like that's just normal life now. When you add in all those other litany of issues you just talked about people's stress anxiety levels depression levels absolutely are increasing so folks who had pre-existing behavioral health conditions it's even harder for them now. And the for those of us who were you know without we are now experiencing those some of those conditions so all told again breadth and depth right just so much wider so much deeper.

LL: You know there uh is a misconception about mental health and you know I go back to my childhood and growing up with my family and the culture and they always associated mental health with the person that is on the street corner talking to themselves and but that's not the case. Uh all of us deal with some level of mental challenges.

DM: yes

LL: And so are you
seeing more people seeking help now?

DM: So, it's interesting that that's that's uh it's a great question um. We are our agency momentum for health works in the county system so that's the public system public sector system and for many months there was a reduction actually in referrals as people sheltered in place they stayed home they followed the guidance they followed the orders. What we're seeing now is an increase right in people accessing call centers as well as on the commercial insurance side people who have health insurance who are now calling for behavioral health services so all of that is actually going up now. And we fully expect as i think you know you and others you know in the community can imagine that there's a lot of pent-up demand right now. uh and issues so we believe in the field that there is a tidal wave sort of a tsunami on the way and we're beginning to see the leading indicators i think data wise of that of that tsunami.

LL: You know going back to my childhood there was such a stigma with mental illness and so some people feel like they don't want to seek professional help and some people are even ashamed to seek professional help what's your message uh to them? Yeah and i think thank you that's why this Facebook live session is so important and getting information out to the community is so important number one is we hope that that folks see their behavioral health conditions or any behavioral health condition just like any other health condition so if people have a heart condition if they have cancer they have asthma they have diabetes people seek help and treatment for those health conditions and generally there are not stigmas  and as strong a stigma as attached to behavioral health and you know i think that's a perfect example that you gave Larry about oh if you have a mental health condition then it's you know it's like maybe less than you I mean pejorative terms crazy. Um if you have a substance use disorder then it's they're worried about you know the sort of criminality to it. Those are health conditions and we need to treat them as health conditions. So again, treatment exists there are 30 plus agencies across Santa Clara county that are right now open providing behavioral health services to income qualified and medically and people who reach medical necessity. But 30 plus agencies for kids who work with addictions mental health older adults and many have been here in the in the in the county for years and years and years some of the best in the state are here in the county and they're open. So again, you can go to the county Website for the provider list you can go to our website momentum for health we have a resource list it's listed please seek help
LL: I want to touch on seeking professional help because you know there have been times in the past when people have someone in their families and they have a mental mental challenges and family members feel like they can handle it or they send it to the pastor at the church talk about the need to seek an actual credential professional to uh treat uh mental health challenges.

DM: But i i mean i think i want to underscore those something you just said right in different communities in different faiths there are people that we can talk to that we can go to and seek advice under difficult circumstances these for sure are difficult circumstances please seek out folks that you trust that you can confide in and and include in that group also professional uh behavioral health experts. Um so again you know clergy uh for sure uh close friends and relative’s um the key is to talk don't bottle it up uh is to seek assistance where you feel like you can um you know you can get healthy and good advice. Um but also think about the the mental health and addiction professionals particularly who can help in these areas. um that's really critical in language you know from uh your cultural background or your faith background there are those professionals out there able to help right now.

LL: Yeah and you know this virus and the impact to the community is affecting all of us in different ways a lot of people have that only me feeling i want you to talk about that a little bit because a lot of people maybe they had to close their salon and they feel like i'm the only one being affected and they've probably watch me and they say oh he's not being affected at all when one of my closest relatives is recovering from kobe so talk about that only me feeling.

DM: Yeah you know and this is um this is i think part of the the condition that exacerbates our um the stress and and sort of depression and all those um uh sort of key indicators of emotional distress is feeling alone. And you know when we're sheltered in place it's so much easier to feel alone and feel isolated. So it is more important to sort of to reach out to other folks your own connections check in on people ask how they're doing and you know again i don't the behavioral health professionals in the community are under the similar stresses uh our own family members and so in many ways we're all trying to practice these same uh um you know best wellness practices as possible. Again, I would underscore just as a as in addition to seeking professional help be mindful of your sleep your sleeping patterns how you eat eat good healthy foods get exercise get outdoors um and you know we find that those three things in whatever uh pandemic or natural crisis or there's extra stress levels we really have to be mindful of those three things um so it's basic building blocks of our own mental wellness and resiliency. Let's talk about your agency because you know in previous years mental health mental health assistance was only available to those with the financial means. So your agency actually works with people from lower incomes and the homeless as well so talk about that a little bit.

DM: So uh you know when the pandemic when the shelter in place order uh was came out from the health department back in March so overnight our agency went from mostly face-to-face to having to to turn to doing remote services by phone and virtually. So we now provide about other behavioral agencies in the in the county um about 80 of our services are now um over the phone or virtual uh and it used to be one percent before COVID less than one. Um so you know a lot of agencies have had to adapt um we see about uh about about 20 percent of our our clients are also also um not housed and then even more who are uh have uh insecure housing that's a lot of folks who are also dealing with a mental health condition or a substance use disorder and you know doing the best they can to to to maintain their recovery. So you know it's i'm proud that our staff have we operate programs those have been up in in in you know servicing folks the entire time during the pandemic. Our outpatient programs um had a slight Dip um but actually still seeing people still um servicing folks over the phone or virtually. So again i just want people to know that those services are open uh and you know again not just us but there are 30 plus behavioral health agencies open in santa clara county right now

LL: And some people are dealing with grief right now which may have pushed them into a space where mental health issues have manifested what's your advice there.

DM: Yeah um you know again sadly uh so many of our our neighbors and are dealing with you know losses and and grief one is again i mean i think is we want to underscore keep talking to folks try not to isolate and um you know I many of the families i think you know um our family included uh are dealing with a lot of different losses um so uh again you know seek help uh talk to folks that you can you feel comfortable confiding in um and um you know probably don't try to manage this on your own. Uh that's probably one of the key parts Of messages during the pandemic.

LL: Closing message what's your advice to the community in in seeking help for mental health issues uh as well as people who work in the profession because they're seeing different stress levels as well.

DM: Yes um well first thing is if i could i'd like to actually  provide a couple of numbers for folks these are these are call numbers that they're run by the county and again i just want to score i think how fortunate i feel to be living in Santa Clara county and so thanks larry for this opportunity but you know also to say that that um our county has been um very much on the forefront of you know trying to prevent infection trying to provide the services including behavioral health right along with the health services alongside. So i want to give two numbers the first is the mental health call center number this is operated 24 hours a day seven days a week it is 1-800-704-0900 again this is the mental health call center it's in um it's in different languages again 24 hours seven days a week i also like to give the substance use disorder hotline number gateway number that is that's the s substance disorder gateway number 1-800-488-9919 again i would encourage folks to to reach out call that number if you have concerns for yourself or family members who may be experiencing mental health issues or addiction issues. Finally for those with health insurance is call your health insurance if you have a behavioral health concern again for you or one of the covered members in your family is call your carrier tell them that you have these again like treat it like any other health condition that you have reach out for help and if you don't get the answer you need call again. We need folks to keep advocating for treating behavioral health just like any other health condition it's as important and it needs that much attention at this point so again thank you please check our website momentum for health we have a resource list there and of other community resources again there are 30 plus agencies in this in this uh county and the behavioral health contractors association BHCA is a representative association of all of those providers. There's help for you in this community.

LL: All right David thank you so much for being here we'll have to have you back because we could go on all day.

DM: Uh thank you thanks let's do this right yeah we're gonna get news again

LL: So, we'll have you back i just want to say Dr Cody will be speaking live here on Facebook coming up at 11 o'clock. And in dealing with mental health issues those who are not dealing with mental health issues you know love and compassion goes a long way and you know one thing I would say is be mindful and be careful what you say to people even when you're saying it online you don't know what because what you say can push people to the next step so just be very careful about that and use compassion. Dr. Cody coming up at 11 o'clock we will see you back here for first Facebook live with the county Santa Clara on friday at 10 a.m thanks for joining us everybody have a good day and be safe.