Selected Podcast
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
Rebecca Parks, the Business Development Coordinator for Riverside Behavioral Medicine, leads a discussion offering a perspective from the intake department, and how it is managed during the pandemic.
Featured Speaker:
Rebecca Parks
Rebecca Parks, is the Business Development Coordinator for Riverside Behavioral Medicine. She has over 9 years of macro-level social work experience working within child welfare, adoption, anti-human trafficking, parent-child programming and healthcare based mental health. She earned her Bachelors of Social Work from Olivet Nazarene University. She works to connect organizations and community members to the best care and collaborate with organizations developing needed resources. Transcription:
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
Liz Healy (Host): Welcome back. And thanks for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Liz Healy and joining me today is Rebecca Parks, who is the Business Development Coordinator with Riverside Behavioral Medicine. Thanks for joining us today Becca.
Rebecca Parks(Guest): Thanks for having me.
Host: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
Rebecca: Yeah, so I have been with Riverside in a role like this for about three years now. And prior to that, my background is in social work. So I have worked with young moms and opening a parenting program locally. And before that in the Chicago area, I worked, with the Children In Care. So DCFS and then also adoptions in Illinois and internationally.
Host: Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about your role here at Riverside and what you do?
Rebecca: Yeah. So what I do here is I meet with community stakeholders, community members. I'm a part of a lot of different communities just sharing about the services in regards to behavioral medicine and mental health that we at Riverside have to offer, but then also learning what our community and surrounding areas have to offer. And then also looking into what are ways that we can connect with other stakeholders and organizations to address the needs of mental health in our community.
Host: Okay, so you help us navigate through a mental health crisis and help people learn about how important it is to get the help that we need here within our community. So that's great.
Rebecca: Thanks.
Host: That brings us to our topic, navigating a mental health crisis. So, mental health is obviously always present. There's definitely been a focus on it in the last few years. A lot of people are working on their mental health and things come up. It's incredibly important that we have resources in our community. And one of the things here at Riverside that we have is the CID or Central Intake Department. Can you tell us about what the Central Intake Department is?
Rebecca: The Central Intake Department is located in Riverside's emergency room and it is 24-7, just like the emergency room. And we have licensed clinicians who are able to do mental health screenings or assessments for individuals. So somebody can access it by calling central intake, but then going straight to the emergency room, and an assessment will be done and kind of seeing where they are in regards to their mental health, how serious it is, and then connecting them to resources within Riverside or the surrounding areas.
Host: Okay. Who are some of the people that could go about accessing it if I had a concern about a family member or a friend, could I call the CID and ask for assistance? Or would the person need to call themselves?
Rebecca: So family members, friends, you can always call the Central Intake Department, but in order for an assessment to take place, they do have to come to the Central Intake Department in the emergency room. But people all the time do call the intake department and say, hey, this is what's going on with my loved one. What could I do? And whether that be, the Central Intake navigating with them, how to include law enforcement or how to contact a therapist, they can help walk through that. But if an assessment is what's needed, then the individual does need to go to the hospital and be assessed there.
Host: Okay. So if someone's experiencing like a mental health emergency and perhaps can not get themselves to the Central Intake Department or does not have the capacity to call, how would they go about accessing it? Can you come by ambulance to the central intake or how does that work?
Rebecca: Yes. So ambulance is able to transport. Everybody, say you have a loved one that you're concerned about. Somebody can call the 911 and ask for a wellness check on that person. And the police will come and they will do a wellness check. And if they do find that they do need to go to the hospital for a mental health screening, an ambulance will transport them. But also sometimes when people call the Central Intake Department, they're able to talk with the person and then maybe a parent or a friend will drive them to the emergency room as well.
Host: Okay. Well, it's really important to know that there are multiple ways that you can access it. Why is it so important that we have this type of resource in our community?
Rebecca: So wonderful that we have this because nationally there is a suicide hotline. There are a lot of hotlines that are wonderful, but they are not centrally located. So, they have to utilize their database or Google, just like we do. Where locally, if somebody can come to the emergency room at any time, having assessment, one, they're in a safe space in the hospital, always being cared for, but then also those people know exactly locally, what we have to offer and are able to connect them to them. But also we are able to connect them right away to our services within Riverside, as well.
Host: Okay. So you kind of touched on this, like there's different reasons why someone might access, the Central Intake Department. Can you give us some examples of things that people might call the Central Intake Department for?
Rebecca: Yes. I always say call, if you or somebody, you know, is at risk to themselves or others. A lot of people hear that. And a lot of people think suicidal or homicidal, which are both very, very serious and very much so definitely need to be addressed going to the Central Intake Department for those, but also at risk to self or other could mean that somebody's mental health is impacting the way they sleep. Somebody's mental health is impacting the way they eat and so they're no longer eating, they're eating too much. They're no longer sleeping, they're sleeping too much. And so, a lot of people think of the extremes for mental health and think that's when services need to be addressed, but oftentimes it's everyday life that's being impacted.
And those are the people that need to be assessed to see where are we at? That might not mean hospitalization. It might just mean, other forms of mental health treatment.
Host: Okay. So I know one of the big things surrounding mental health right now is COVID and the impact that it's had, keeping people at home, away from their loved ones. And, they were torn out of their routine for a long time now. And people are struggling to get back in and like go out and see people. I know the introvert in myself sometimes, would rather stay home than go out and you know, that's me. But how has mental health been impacted by COVID? Have you seen more people accessing the CID?
Rebecca: Yeah, so, there definitely always is seasons in regards to when times are busy. So warmer weather, sunshine, Christmas time, people typically are out and about, or doing fun things that are addressing their mental health in a positive manner, because there are positive ways to address your mental health or in holidays if you're with loved ones, you're happy and such, but during COVID, during those times, then outside of those times, our Central Intake Department has been hit with so many people, not only locally in our emergency room, we are one of the only hospitals in the area that have inpatient psych units for so many individuals starting at age five and going up till, there's no cap in age limit.
And so because of that, we receive so many referrals from outside areas, 12 to 15 a day sometimes. And that's not just the people who locally are accessing it. So COVID, more than ever has impacted everybody's mental health. And we are seeing so many people in need of services. So it's greatly affected it.
Host: Okay. I know COVID is just one thing that has impacted mental health in the last several years. I think, the staying home and people really being at home with their thoughts has definitely impacted it. And, I'm sure you'll agree, it's important that we address a mental health emergency quickly and efficiently. And with different mental health conditions, it can be hard to predict when things are going to come up and cause issues because there's often no warning signs.
Are there other things that we can look for? I know we touched on a few things that people often don't think like, hey, I need to access the CID for having, you know, I'm not sleeping because of my mental health. Are there other things that we can kind of watch for in ourselves and be like, oh, okay. Like this could be something that could be a problem later down the road. Can I address this now and maybe seek out some help now?
Rebecca: Yeah, one of the biggest, I would say that we're seeing is anger and aggression. And so that is something where, especially with the younger population, but then adults too, if you're seeing that more so than you've ever before, or you're seeing that in yourself more so ever before, that's something that really is a warning sign of, okay, maybe I need to address that and that could be through therapy and it could be through just talk therapy of talking through how can you have things, but we're seeing a lot of anger.
But then also grief, we've all experienced so much loss and loss greatly impacts us. So one of the things that especially in regards to grief, I encourage people to notice what kind of triggers their sadness and such. For example, one thing that a lot of people don't realize this, the sense of smell triggers so much in regards to grief and mental health, it could bring you back to that person. It could bring you back to a traumatic experience, but needing to identify those things and then needing to identify how do I go about when I do smell that? And that's the importance of receiving mental health services from professionals because they can walk you through all of those things.
Host: Okay. So, that was great information and interesting that anger and grief, those are big things that, people just don't even probably attribute to mental health sometimes. I know we started with it, but when we go about accessing the CID, can you talk a little bit more about, so you walk into the ED, do you just walk up to the desk and said, I'd like to talk to the Central Intake Department? Or how would they go about accessing it?
Rebecca: Yeah. So by all means, if that's how somebody goes about, you know, there's no script for it. They will know who to contact, but you also can go up to the front desk at the emergency room and say, I'm here for a mental health screening. I'm here for a mental health assessment. And then, you do go into the emergency room. There is medical screenings that do need to take place, due to if somebody is hospitalized. If not, then you're just checked. Then also you're brought in to then be assessed with our mental health clinicians. And then from there, that's where then they decide and make recommendations as well.
Host: Okay. Perfect. Is there anything else we missed or we need to add?
Rebecca: Just more now than ever is so important for people to understand that our local community here in Kankakee County does have an intake department and it can be accessed at any time. And there are no barriers in regards to who experiences mental health crisis. And so, don't hesitate to seek services.
Host: Okay, perfect. And thank you for joining us today, Becca.
Rebecca: Thank you.
Host: Thank you listeners for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast with Rebecca Parks, who is the Business Development Coordinator with Riverside Behavioral Medicine and your host Liz Healy. To learn more about the services provided by Riverside's Behavioral Medicine Department, visit our website at riversidehealthcare.org or call our Central Intake Department at 844-442-2551.
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
Liz Healy (Host): Welcome back. And thanks for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Liz Healy and joining me today is Rebecca Parks, who is the Business Development Coordinator with Riverside Behavioral Medicine. Thanks for joining us today Becca.
Rebecca Parks(Guest): Thanks for having me.
Host: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
Rebecca: Yeah, so I have been with Riverside in a role like this for about three years now. And prior to that, my background is in social work. So I have worked with young moms and opening a parenting program locally. And before that in the Chicago area, I worked, with the Children In Care. So DCFS and then also adoptions in Illinois and internationally.
Host: Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about your role here at Riverside and what you do?
Rebecca: Yeah. So what I do here is I meet with community stakeholders, community members. I'm a part of a lot of different communities just sharing about the services in regards to behavioral medicine and mental health that we at Riverside have to offer, but then also learning what our community and surrounding areas have to offer. And then also looking into what are ways that we can connect with other stakeholders and organizations to address the needs of mental health in our community.
Host: Okay, so you help us navigate through a mental health crisis and help people learn about how important it is to get the help that we need here within our community. So that's great.
Rebecca: Thanks.
Host: That brings us to our topic, navigating a mental health crisis. So, mental health is obviously always present. There's definitely been a focus on it in the last few years. A lot of people are working on their mental health and things come up. It's incredibly important that we have resources in our community. And one of the things here at Riverside that we have is the CID or Central Intake Department. Can you tell us about what the Central Intake Department is?
Rebecca: The Central Intake Department is located in Riverside's emergency room and it is 24-7, just like the emergency room. And we have licensed clinicians who are able to do mental health screenings or assessments for individuals. So somebody can access it by calling central intake, but then going straight to the emergency room, and an assessment will be done and kind of seeing where they are in regards to their mental health, how serious it is, and then connecting them to resources within Riverside or the surrounding areas.
Host: Okay. Who are some of the people that could go about accessing it if I had a concern about a family member or a friend, could I call the CID and ask for assistance? Or would the person need to call themselves?
Rebecca: So family members, friends, you can always call the Central Intake Department, but in order for an assessment to take place, they do have to come to the Central Intake Department in the emergency room. But people all the time do call the intake department and say, hey, this is what's going on with my loved one. What could I do? And whether that be, the Central Intake navigating with them, how to include law enforcement or how to contact a therapist, they can help walk through that. But if an assessment is what's needed, then the individual does need to go to the hospital and be assessed there.
Host: Okay. So if someone's experiencing like a mental health emergency and perhaps can not get themselves to the Central Intake Department or does not have the capacity to call, how would they go about accessing it? Can you come by ambulance to the central intake or how does that work?
Rebecca: Yes. So ambulance is able to transport. Everybody, say you have a loved one that you're concerned about. Somebody can call the 911 and ask for a wellness check on that person. And the police will come and they will do a wellness check. And if they do find that they do need to go to the hospital for a mental health screening, an ambulance will transport them. But also sometimes when people call the Central Intake Department, they're able to talk with the person and then maybe a parent or a friend will drive them to the emergency room as well.
Host: Okay. Well, it's really important to know that there are multiple ways that you can access it. Why is it so important that we have this type of resource in our community?
Rebecca: So wonderful that we have this because nationally there is a suicide hotline. There are a lot of hotlines that are wonderful, but they are not centrally located. So, they have to utilize their database or Google, just like we do. Where locally, if somebody can come to the emergency room at any time, having assessment, one, they're in a safe space in the hospital, always being cared for, but then also those people know exactly locally, what we have to offer and are able to connect them to them. But also we are able to connect them right away to our services within Riverside, as well.
Host: Okay. So you kind of touched on this, like there's different reasons why someone might access, the Central Intake Department. Can you give us some examples of things that people might call the Central Intake Department for?
Rebecca: Yes. I always say call, if you or somebody, you know, is at risk to themselves or others. A lot of people hear that. And a lot of people think suicidal or homicidal, which are both very, very serious and very much so definitely need to be addressed going to the Central Intake Department for those, but also at risk to self or other could mean that somebody's mental health is impacting the way they sleep. Somebody's mental health is impacting the way they eat and so they're no longer eating, they're eating too much. They're no longer sleeping, they're sleeping too much. And so, a lot of people think of the extremes for mental health and think that's when services need to be addressed, but oftentimes it's everyday life that's being impacted.
And those are the people that need to be assessed to see where are we at? That might not mean hospitalization. It might just mean, other forms of mental health treatment.
Host: Okay. So I know one of the big things surrounding mental health right now is COVID and the impact that it's had, keeping people at home, away from their loved ones. And, they were torn out of their routine for a long time now. And people are struggling to get back in and like go out and see people. I know the introvert in myself sometimes, would rather stay home than go out and you know, that's me. But how has mental health been impacted by COVID? Have you seen more people accessing the CID?
Rebecca: Yeah, so, there definitely always is seasons in regards to when times are busy. So warmer weather, sunshine, Christmas time, people typically are out and about, or doing fun things that are addressing their mental health in a positive manner, because there are positive ways to address your mental health or in holidays if you're with loved ones, you're happy and such, but during COVID, during those times, then outside of those times, our Central Intake Department has been hit with so many people, not only locally in our emergency room, we are one of the only hospitals in the area that have inpatient psych units for so many individuals starting at age five and going up till, there's no cap in age limit.
And so because of that, we receive so many referrals from outside areas, 12 to 15 a day sometimes. And that's not just the people who locally are accessing it. So COVID, more than ever has impacted everybody's mental health. And we are seeing so many people in need of services. So it's greatly affected it.
Host: Okay. I know COVID is just one thing that has impacted mental health in the last several years. I think, the staying home and people really being at home with their thoughts has definitely impacted it. And, I'm sure you'll agree, it's important that we address a mental health emergency quickly and efficiently. And with different mental health conditions, it can be hard to predict when things are going to come up and cause issues because there's often no warning signs.
Are there other things that we can look for? I know we touched on a few things that people often don't think like, hey, I need to access the CID for having, you know, I'm not sleeping because of my mental health. Are there other things that we can kind of watch for in ourselves and be like, oh, okay. Like this could be something that could be a problem later down the road. Can I address this now and maybe seek out some help now?
Rebecca: Yeah, one of the biggest, I would say that we're seeing is anger and aggression. And so that is something where, especially with the younger population, but then adults too, if you're seeing that more so than you've ever before, or you're seeing that in yourself more so ever before, that's something that really is a warning sign of, okay, maybe I need to address that and that could be through therapy and it could be through just talk therapy of talking through how can you have things, but we're seeing a lot of anger.
But then also grief, we've all experienced so much loss and loss greatly impacts us. So one of the things that especially in regards to grief, I encourage people to notice what kind of triggers their sadness and such. For example, one thing that a lot of people don't realize this, the sense of smell triggers so much in regards to grief and mental health, it could bring you back to that person. It could bring you back to a traumatic experience, but needing to identify those things and then needing to identify how do I go about when I do smell that? And that's the importance of receiving mental health services from professionals because they can walk you through all of those things.
Host: Okay. So, that was great information and interesting that anger and grief, those are big things that, people just don't even probably attribute to mental health sometimes. I know we started with it, but when we go about accessing the CID, can you talk a little bit more about, so you walk into the ED, do you just walk up to the desk and said, I'd like to talk to the Central Intake Department? Or how would they go about accessing it?
Rebecca: Yeah. So by all means, if that's how somebody goes about, you know, there's no script for it. They will know who to contact, but you also can go up to the front desk at the emergency room and say, I'm here for a mental health screening. I'm here for a mental health assessment. And then, you do go into the emergency room. There is medical screenings that do need to take place, due to if somebody is hospitalized. If not, then you're just checked. Then also you're brought in to then be assessed with our mental health clinicians. And then from there, that's where then they decide and make recommendations as well.
Host: Okay. Perfect. Is there anything else we missed or we need to add?
Rebecca: Just more now than ever is so important for people to understand that our local community here in Kankakee County does have an intake department and it can be accessed at any time. And there are no barriers in regards to who experiences mental health crisis. And so, don't hesitate to seek services.
Host: Okay, perfect. And thank you for joining us today, Becca.
Rebecca: Thank you.
Host: Thank you listeners for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast with Rebecca Parks, who is the Business Development Coordinator with Riverside Behavioral Medicine and your host Liz Healy. To learn more about the services provided by Riverside's Behavioral Medicine Department, visit our website at riversidehealthcare.org or call our Central Intake Department at 844-442-2551.