CVS Health: More Americans Value Mental Health Conversations

CVS Health leaders emphasized the power of virtual care and other resources in mental health after a CVS Health survey identified that mental healthcare needs continue to climb across the US.

“Despite the longstanding stigma and other challenges in mental health, there is a clear shift taking place through the power of technology,” Karen S. Lynch, president and chief executive officer of CVS Health, said in a press release. 

“CVS Health provided 10 million virtual mental health visits last year, compared to 20,000 prior to the pandemic, which is enabling us to meet the growing demand brought on by COVID-19. We are firmly committed to developing new programs and resources that help make mental health care more routine, convenient and accessible for all communities.”

CVS Health researchers surveyed 2,209 adults through an online interview from April 6 to April 9, 2022.

While the demand for mental healthcare support is desperate, the CVS Health survey found that the nation is moving forward in its growing consensus that mental healthcare conversations are valuable.

Over a third of adults were open to discussing mental health with a coworker (35 percent), offering hope for employers’ mental healthcare efforts.

According to the survey, 43 percent of American adults agreed that conversations with friends about mental healthcare could improve mental health and 39 percent of American adults said that mental health conversations with family could have the same outcome.

Almost three-quarters of all respondents who identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community stated that they felt comfortable having conversations about mental healthcare with their close friends. Seven in ten participants who were members of this community also felt comfortable having in-person conversations with mental healthcare workers.

However, LGBTQIA+ respondents expressed less openness to having an in-person conversation about mental healthcare with a medical professional or with family members. Nearly two-thirds were comfortable with talking to a medical professional about mental health and only 51 percent were comfortable with having this conversation with their family members.

Overall, respondents felt least comfortable about having mental health conversations with their families, with 64 percent of all respondents saying they felt comfortable with this. Participants felt most comfortable discussing mental healthcare with a medical professional in person. Meanwhile, 70 percent of all respondents were comfortable sharing these conversations with close friends.

Parents were particularly open to mental healthcare conversations. Nearly six out of ten parent respondents (57 percent) shared that having conversations about mental health with their friends positively impacted their own mental health and around two-thirds found that those conversations could encourage them to find professional help and resources.

The press release revealed that certain populations were experiencing higher rates of mental health conditions. Nearly six out of ten respondents who identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community were concerned about their own mental health, compared to approximately four out of ten respondents from the group of participants overall.

Race continues to be a factor in mental healthcare care disparities. Black respondents witnessed an 11 percentage point growth in mental health concerns since March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of the respondents between the ages of 18 to 34 (74 percent) had mental health concerns for themselves or for someone in their communities—a family member or friend. Only two years ago, this share was closer to 62 percent.

But mental health concerns are not limited to the young. Forty percent of seniors over the age of 65 had mental healthcare concerns, either for themselves or for members of their communities who were friends or family. This statistic rose 10 percentage points over the course of the pandemic.

“The impact of isolation, loss, grief and burnout will effect of our mental health for years to come,” said Cara McNulty, president of behavioral health and mental well-being at CVS Health. 

“As a result, we continue to expand services and resources to meet the long-term needs of communities, workforces – including our own – and loved ones to make gains on our goal to reduce suicide attempts 20 percent among our membership by the year 2025, which is an imperative.”

An estimated 52 million US residents had mental health conditions, according to the National Institue of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Around half of all Americans who had a mental healthcare need did not access mental healthcare support, NIMH has also stated.

It is little wonder that so many Americans do not receive mental healthcare support when placed in the context of the mental and behavioral healthcare workforce shortage. The CVS Health survey noted that over 112 million US residents lacked easy access to a mental healthcare provider.