Getting MH and SUD treatment fit for you
In America, July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. It is a time to bring awareness to the struggles that our racial and ethnic minority communities face. Besides the stigma surrounding mental health among racial and ethnic minority populations, language and cultural customs have proven to be a barrier for seeking services that can help. Through providing culturally specific mental health services in a language and style of preference, work to heal our communities can move toward success. But before that happens, getting a general understanding of what mental health is and what it entails is needed to help break the stigma. This will allow people to get the treatments and services that best fit their needs.
What is mental health?
According to mentalhealth.gov, mental health “includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.” It is a term that falls under the bigger umbrella of behavioral health (see below). However, mental health is primarily concerned with your state of being, while behavioral health refers to how behaviors impact your well-being.
What is behavioral health?
Behavioral health is the way your habits impact your mental and physical wellbeing. This includes eating and drinking habits, exercise, and addictive behavior patterns. Abusing drugs and alcohol, eating disorders, gambling and sex addiction are all examples of behavioral health disorders.
Behavioral health services are made up of three components: mental health services, substance use treatment (SUD) and recovery support. At CareOregon, we work to remove any barriers that our members may face when seeking help for any condition, especially for behavioral health. These services are available at no cost to members seeking help. Getting that help is easy.
What behavioral health services are available to me?
You are not alone. If you are facing any of these situations, we can help:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Having a hard time getting out of bed
- Thoughts about harming yourself or others
- Struggle to handle parenting, work, or more
- Afraid you’ll never get well
- Not sure you’ll find the right counselor
- Fell like you don’t have the time to get the help you need
For mental health, CareOregon offers counseling, therapy and psychotherapy, medication and more.
For substance abuse disorder (SUD), we offer detox programs, medications for addiction treatment, office visits and counseling and more.
For recovery support, we offer services such as in-person care, personal advocacy and peer support.
You can learn about all our services by calling your assigned behavioral health plan. You also can make an appointment with them if you want to talk to someone in-person. Your Member ID card has the number of the behavioral health plan you’ve been assigned to. It’s important that you are comfortable with the person providing your care. If the provider you see first is not a good fit, call Customer Service at 800‑224‑4840 or TTY 711 to select from a list of other providers or to connect to mental health care, substance use treatment and recovery support.
Interpreter services
As a member of CareOregon, access to services in your language is a right. In April 2022, CareOregon made changes to our interpreting services vendors. These changes were made so that we can efficiently connect all members to health in their preferred language. We are working to remove barriers through three areas of focus:
- Ensuring the appropriate access in all areas of our member’s experience
- Ensuring our interpreter network meets the needs of our members
- Ensuring we (CareOregon) have a way for our members to let us know if they are or are not getting the help they need
Getting help is easy: learn about our behavioral health or interpreter services and then call your assigned behavioral health plan to make an appointment or reach out to Customer Service at 800‑224‑4840 or TTY 711 with questions.
SOURCES:
CareOregon Mental health care and substance use treatment member handout
https://www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/minority-mental-health/