Dear Editor:

Will you share your experiences with mental health and substance use services in Lincoln County with us? Your views could help improve the services needed in our area.

Mental health and substance use problems affect nearly every family in America. Chances are very good that you know someone, a family member, friend, neighbor or co-worker, coping with a mental health or substance use issue.

In 2014, an estimated 43.6 million adults aged 18 or older struggled with a mental illness in the United States while approximately 21.5 million people aged 12 or older struggled with substance use - 17 million with an alcohol use disorder and 7.1 million with an illicit drug use disorder. Together mental illness and substance use are the leading causes of illness and disability in the United States.

Healthy Lincoln County, Lincoln Health, Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission and Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program are assessing the strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and costs of existing mental health and substance use services in our area. We need to hear from people with “lived experience” - people who have struggled with these health issues or their family members who have witnessed the challenges. We will gather information by way of a one on one interview.

With a grant from the Maine Health Access Foundation, MeHAF, we hope to determine the greatest mental health and substance use need in Lincoln County. The information we collect from the interviews will be used to design a plan, a possible solution that can reasonably be expected to improve a mental health service in the county. A well-designed plan will make it possible for us to apply for a MeHAF grant that will provide 3-5 years of funding to implement a solution here in Lincoln County.

Will you help? To share your confidential perspective regarding mental health and substance use services in Lincoln County, call Tom Mahoney at Healthy Lincoln County, 563-1330 or email him at tmahoney@mcdph.org to schedule an interview. It takes about 30 minutes.

You can help improve the health of our community. Call or email Tom today!

Cathy Cole, Karen-Ann Hagar, Kristie Worster, LCSW, Mary Ellen Barnes, Mary Turner,

Michael J. Glennon, MPH, Richard Lash, Susanna Norwood-Burns and Tom Mahoney, MPH