HYANNIS – The National Alliance on Mental Illness is raising concerns about access to care on the Cape and Islands.
With an employment shortage of therapists on Cape Cod, Jackie Lane, Executive Director for NAMI, is worried that residents will not be able to get the quality care they deserve if things do not change.
“Therapists are not paid enough to live on the Cape. It’s an expensive place to live with Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard being out of reach completely. So even though there is a shortage all over, it makes it especially hard here, because people can not afford to live on Cape,” said Lane.
With new healthcare laws being worked on for the future, Lane’s hope is that compensation for therapists is at the top of the list to entice more help to the Cape.
Lane also stated that because of the lack of compensation there are currently no children’s mental health beds on the Cape.
For those residents looking for help, Executive Director Lane suggests calling NAMI first to speak with people who care.
“We’re very user friendly. We are not clinicians ourselves, but we’ve had the lived experience and we are navigators. We try very hard to help anybody that calls us get the services they need, and we listen too,” Lane said.
NAMI offers both support groups and supportive classes to help individuals get the care they need.
For more information about NAMI and their services visit their website.
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