Iowa Mental Healthcare in 2024

Where We're At and Where We Need To Go

With the start of a new year, mental healthcare advocates like myself are turning our attention to issues for the upcoming state legislative session, and the February 20^th National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Day on the Hill.

But first, a snapshot of mental health in our state:

• Total adult population in Iowa: 2,450,103

• Iowa individuals with schizophrenia: 26,951

• Iowa individuals with severe bipolar disorder: 56,352

  (Source: NIMH and US Bureau of the Census 2020)

• Iowa ranks 31^st in the nation for youth with high mental health needs and low access to mental health care. (Source: “The State of Mental Health in America 2022” report, Mental Health America)

• 1 in 5 people will experience a mental health condition this year. 1 in 20 people will experience a Serious Mental Illness. (Source: NAMI National)

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Iowans ages 15-34, and Iowa has seen a 31% overall increase in age-adjusted rate of suicide from 2015-2020 (Source: “Suicide in Iowa” report, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services)

• Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of suicide increased by 128% for Hispanic or Latino Iowans, 56% for Black Iowans, 128% for Asian/Pacific Islander Iowans, and 348% for American Indian/Alaskan Native Iowans. (Source: “Suicide in Iowa” report)

In the last few years, Iowa has made some strides in building up and improving mental healthcare resources, and there were a few pieces of critical mental health legislation passed, like the 2018 Complex Needs Mental Health Law, the 2019 Children’s Mental Health Law, and moving the funding stream from property taxes to the state budget.

But Iowa continues to lack staffed psychiatric beds in private hospitals and in our two remaining state hospitals, still ranking 51^st, last in the nation, with only 2 beds per 100,000 people, when the recommended amount is 50 beds per 100,000 people.

Additionally, the rate of increased needs—particularly among young people—has overtaken the progress we did make in the last four years.

A snapshot of NAMI-Iowa’s Legislative Priorities for 2024:

• Support increased behavior health services and programs in schools for students and staff. These include improved access to mental health professionals, evidence-based suicide prevention programming, and comprehensive mental health plans for school districts.

  (I’m now receiving emails from Iowa public school administrators asking for advice or help with finding school-based therapists and funding. This will be my column topic next week.)

• Identify and enact strategies to recruit and retain a mental health workforce to meet the rapidly increasing needs of Iowans. Strategies may include incentives, elevation of peer support models, professional development programs, medical residencies, and efforts to encourage healthcare providers to seek and access mental health treatment without penalization.

• Identify a sustainable funding strategy for Iowa’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (a topic I’ve previously written about here and here) and develop a comprehensive and consistent approach to behavioral health crisis response throughout the state.

• Increase access and resources to address co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions. This includes acute care and crisis stabilization, as well as residential treatment and long-term housing options. (A topic close to my heart as it’s now directly affecting one of my extended family members.)   

Clearly there’s still so much work to be done, and over the next two months I plan to dive more fully into each legislative topic.

Because Iowa can and needs to do better. ~

---

---

I’m proud to be a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Check out our fantastic list of writers and Iowa-centered topics!