NMC Leads Critical Mental Wellness Conversation

Group meeting

On February 26, 2019, NMC convened leaders in and outside of the healthcare industry to facilitate a whiteboard conversation on youth suicide prevention. Participants included the executive director from Lady GaGa’s Born This Way Foundation, a former Raiders football player and founder of the Tuck and Run Foundation, Las Vegas Raiders Family Association representatives,  leaders from UNLV’s National Institute for Children’s Research & Policy (NICRP) and the Nevada Department of Health & Human Services, as well as the deputy superintendent for the Clark County School District, to name only a few.  The goal of the initial session focused on establishing trust among a diverse group of participants,  understanding what current metrics convey, identifying successes among direct service providers, understanding where gaps in services and prevention exist and determining next steps.  A robust and substantive conversation produced the following themes:

  • Today’s youth have social media-driven lives
  • Technology can lead to isolation even while “connected” to many
  • The anonymity afforded to youth to find resources using social media is a benefit, however, today’s youth experience information overload
  • Youth can be transformed through kindness
  • We must find ways to reduce/eliminate the stigma associated with mental health issues
  • Data intersects and conveys the complexity of mental health issues, however, the resources do not
  • Early intervention is key (elementary school aged intervention/education/awareness)
  • Simple solutions help
  • Lack of sleep and reliance on technology contributes to mental wellness challenges
  • How do we instill resiliency in young people?
  • Many attendees were unaware that the leading cause of death in Nevada for 8-18-year old’s is suicide

NMC staff look forward to leading future conversations about this critical topic in an effort to find preventative measures and solution to eliminate the suicide rate among youth in our State.