Mental health care is, fortunately, an increasingly well-known field. It is no longer strange to talk about emotional or psychological well-being and the importance of taking care of a part of our health that has been relegated to the purely physical level for so long. But … This greater awareness, together with an increase in mental problems, drives a growing demand for care from citizens, who find the traditionally limited resources of the public system in this area insufficient. Now, the Rioja Health Service (Seris) is preparing a new reinforcement with the arrival of ten new psychologists in Primary Care through a program with a preventive focus, psychoeducation and group interventions.
The president of the regional government, Gonzalo Capellán, announced more than a month ago the creation of the ‘Saludamente’ program, financed half by the Autonomous Community and the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, of which more details are gradually becoming known. In principle, the reinforcement of Seris with 10 psychologists assigned to health centers in Logroño, Calahorra and Haro was revealed, and now, Carlos Piserra, deputy director general of Mental and Emotional Health Strategy, offers more details about this project that “will be launched after summer and that, although it has reference centers, it will cover all of La Rioja.
The selection process for this new team is currently being developed by the College of Psychology of La Rioja and the functional structuring that it will have within Seris. Five of the psychologists will settle in Logroño, evaluating specific destinations but with some health centers such as La Guindalera or Joaquín Elizalde already on the list of preferences. Calahorra will have three, while the remaining two will be in Haro.
Carlos Piserra describes ‘Healthily’ as a program “focused on prevention and subclinical symptoms, in order to anticipate greater emotional adjustment difficulties from Primary Care.” The news is beginning to be defined, and these ten psychologists will be “a complementary step” to the current path that Riojans with certain mental health needs can follow. Psychoeducation and prevention will mark a work that will be carried out through group sessions.
“The gateway continues to be the Primary Care doctor, who will determine, depending on the pathology, the transfer to the Mental Health department or to this program if what exists is simply an emotional dysfunction or a mild disorder,” details the deputy director. General Mental and Emotional Health Strategy. These new psychologists will have a first interview with the patient before assigning them to the appropriate group, “where the aim is to provide the attendees with tools to, for example, control stress and anxiety,” details Piserra.
«’Healthily’ is focused on subclinical symptoms in order to anticipate greater emotional adjustment difficulties»
“There is an increasing demand that already existed before the pandemic but that rose much more clearly afterwards”
Carlos Piserra
Deputy Director of Mental and Emotional Health Strategy
This program comes to reinforce the provision of the Seris Mental Health network, which integrates numerous services such as the Mental Health Units, the specialized team for children and adolescents, the hospitalization, rehabilitation and eating disorders units, the teams of therapy, the Albelda de Iregua center… One more link, although complaints are common among those Riojans who encounter too many barriers and deadlines to be treated by a psychiatrist or psychologist in the public system, promoting, especially in the In the case of the latter, many citizens turn to private supply.
According to the latest data, from December, the average delay in the Mental Health unit was 32 days and, although this has not increased significantly in recent years as it has in other specialties, in 2019 they were at It expects 141 patients, while at the end of last year there were 193, 37% more.
“We understand that programs like ‘Healthily’ can significantly help reduce the consumption of anxiolytics and other medications, in addition to reducing healthcare pressure at more specialized levels,” concludes the deputy director general of Mental and Emotional Health Strategy. With ten new psychologists, La Rioja will face a new scenario starting in the fall that hopes to intervene early so that the mental health of Riojans does not continue to deteriorate at the rate at which it is doing so until now.
