PEABODY — Interface, a quick mental health referral service already active in Lynnfield and other communities, is available to city residents.
The free and confidential helpline operated by William James College can be reached by calling 1-888-244-6843 Monday through Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Helpline assists callers by gathering information about their or their children’s mental health concern and uses a database of over 9,000 licensed providers to connect the caller to outpatient mental health professionals that best match their needs based on location, specialty, insurance or fee structure, and appointment availability.
Peabody’s Interface service is multilingual and Mayor Edward Bettencourt said the city selected Interface after examining the referral service’s reviews.
“In a survey of users of the service, 97 percent of respondents reported that Interface counselors were knowledgeable about available mental health services. The average time between initial contact and receipt of a referral option for those who called the Helpline is 14 days; this short time frame has resulted in a much lower disengagement rate, meaning that more people found it easier to get to the care they need,” Bettencourt said.
Helpline counselors, according to a statement posted on the city website, follow up with callers to ensure that the caller was able to make a successful match with a provider and will continue to provide support and referrals until a successful match has been made.
A Healthy Lynnfield, the town’s substance abuse prevention and health awareness coalition, helped introduce Interface last summer with town substance abuse prevention coordinator Peg Sallade explaining how calls to Interface are answered by a William James mental health worker who asks questions and matches the description of the resident’s mental health concern with a specific provider capable of addressing the problem.
The ability to match calls for help to professionals can streamline the sometimes-challenging process of finding the right provider to deal with a problem, said Sallade.
“This helps access the provider that much faster,” she said. “But it’s only effective to the degree the larger community knows about it.”
Last year’s Peabody community health needs assessment conducted by Lahey Medical Center concluded, according to the city statement, that “Mental health issues (e.g., depression, anxiety/stress, access to treatment, stigma) underlie many health and social concerns.”
The assessment revealed higher-than-state average rates of depression and anxiety among older adults (65+) in Peabody, as well as higher rates for mental health disorder inpatient hospitalizations and mental health mortality.
The report states that similar concerns exist for the impact of depression, anxiety, and substance use within the youth population.
“The health and well-being of Peabody residents is my highest priority. The Interface helpline will remove many of the barriers that people come across when trying to find outpatient mental health services for themselves or a dependent, and we are grateful for the community partnerships that have allowed us to bring this resource to Peabody,” Bettencourt said.
In addition to funding from the city, Interface is funded through the J.B. Thomas – Lahey Foundation and the Peabody City Council Subcommittee on Drug Education and Awareness.
For more information on INTERFACE, visit www.peabody-ma.gov or contact the Peabody Health Department at 978-538-5926.
