We Need More than Gun Control to Stop Violence: Pro
Gun control alone isn't enough to prevent future acts of violence such as the massacre in Newtown, Conn., Brenda Reiss-Brennan, mental health integration director at Intermountain Healthcare told CNBC Monday. There needs to be tougher social health controls, she said.
"It's not just guns, it's not just mental health," she said, commenting on ways to prevent future acts of violence. "It's the social integration of our entire communities."
Integration entails families accessing appropriate health care, which includes mental health as a normal part of health care and not something separate, she told "Street Signs."
Reiss-Brennan said the stigma surrounding mental health has made it more difficult for families to get the help they need. Moreover, mental health care needs to be part of routine health care in terms of treatment, prevention and management.
"The answer is to find coordinated, integrated care so that when people are in trouble they have someone to call and the family's not alone with it and the doctor's not alone with it," Reiss-Brennan said.
Funding is another issue. "What is it costing us to not integrate mental health into health care and have it be something that feels more coordinated more connected so people aren't so isolated?" she said.