Teton County residents report struggling more with their mental health and loneliness since the pandemic began. That's according to a community behavioral health assessment.
The survey asked questions about mental health status, access to that type of care and what might deter people from getting treatment.
Deidre Ashley with the Jackson Hole Community Counseling Centersaid much of the results make sense since the pandemic has been a stressful time. But she says a silver lining is that half of the respondents who said they struggled with mental health also say they sought out care.
"I think people are more willing to talk about it and ask questions about treatment and where to find it," Ashley said. "Stigma is always a huge barrier. And I feel like that has lessened in the last year."
The survey was done by a coalition of human service providers to help identify areas that need improvement.
"So just looking at what might be possible, what the community really needs, knowing that we're going to need to have some answers in order to prioritize, just because we're not going to be able to do everything all at once," she said.
This is just a step of the process. The coalition would like to take action on areas that they identify as prioritization. Over 1,000 community members responded to the survey and 361 of the respondents were Hispanic or Latinx.