© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Challenges, Opportunities For Increasing Access To Mental Health Care

Flickr |neil conway

Earlier this week, prompted by the mass school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Barack Obama announced a series of measures aimed at curbing gun violence.

Among the proposals is increasing access to mental health care.

All too often access to mental health care is scarce.  Sometimes, the only place people can get care is if they are arrested and charged with a crime.

“When you have your first onset of mental health illness you struggle to accept it and determine what it is,” said Jackie Lukitsch, Director of Advocacy for NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) - St. Louis.

Host Don Marsh talked with Lukitsch, Dr. Fred Rottnek, Medical Director for Corrections Medicine for St. Louis County and Associate Professor in Saint Louis University’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Michael Mancini, Associate Professor at Saint Louis University’s College of Public Health and Social Justice.

Dr. Rottnek recently wrote an opinion piece for the St. Louis Beacon about the lack of mental health safety net called, “I am Adam Lanza’s Doctor.”

Marsh addressed that opinion piece, among other topics, in a wide ranging discussion about how society can provide mental health care before people enter the justice system.

Follow St. Louis on the Air on Twitter - @STLonAir

Stay Connected
Alex is the executive producer of "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.
Mary Edwards is a producer for St. Louis Public Radio's broadcast program, "St. Louis Symphony."
Don Marsh served as host of St. Louis Public Radio’s “St. Louis on the Air" from 2005 to 2019, bringing discussions of significant topics to listeners' ears at noon Monday through Friday. Don has been an active journalist for 58 years in print, radio and television. He has won 12 Regional Emmy Awards for writing, reporting, and producing. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, was inducted into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame in 2013, and named “Media Person of the Year” by the St. Louis Press Club in 2015. He has published three books: his most recent, “Coming of Age, Liver Spots and All: A Humorous Look at the Wonders of Getting Old,” “Flash Frames: Journey of a Journeyman Journalist” and “How to be Rude (Politely).” He holds an honorary Doctor of Arts and Letters degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.