COVID cases are down in much of the U.S., but the pandemic s lingering effects are growing larger. School social workers in Minnesota point to mental-health demands among students, and they hope lawmakers respond. Social workers team up with nurses and psychologists to help students cope with stress and anxiety. .
Social workers are raising awareness about new mobile crisis centers and an Access Point call center now providing 24/7 call, chat or community-based services for Granite Staters facing a mental-health crisis. New Hampshire s mental-health services have been seeing workforce shortages in recent years, which has resulted in people in crisis waiting days at the emergency room for a placement. Becky Parton, project director for the Dartmouth Trauma Interventions Research Center and a member of the National Association of Social Workers, said the new mobile centers, also known as Rapid Response Teams, seek to connect folks directly with care. .
With COVID cases waning, more employers are asking workers to return to the office for the first time since the pandemic began, and mental health professionals said there are ways to manage the stress and anxiety from this big change. Rates of anxiety and depression among U.S. adults were four times higher between April 2020 and August 2021 than they were in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). .