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Destigmatizing mental health

Shelter Island School officials left a recent North Fork Coalition for Behavioral Health forum armed with information they believe will assist them in identifying issues affecting students, but also having an impact on the wider community, including the large and growing senior resident population.

Shelter Island is one of five East End Schools — the others being on the North Fork — actively working to identify those services readily available and those that need to be developed in their communities to serve the emotional and mental health issues that confront some residents.

Shelter Island Director of Pupil Personnel, Data and Instruction, Jennifer Rylott, said she hopes the community will keep an open mind about reaching out to learn what services are available to them and ask about needs they believe aren’t being met so she and others can work to fill the void.

A small school district with a social worker, a psychologist on staff and relatively tiny classes means the teaching staff knows students well and is often able to identify issues early, meaning troubled students are apt to have their needs identified and helped.

But in talking to clergy on the Island after the forum, Ms. Rylott said she became more aware of the needs senior residents have on the Island.

Many buy property here as second homes with plans to eventually retire. But in an age where families are often scattered throughout the country when retirement age comes, couples settled here don’t always have nearby relatives.

As they age and their needs increase, their declines aren’t always immediately visible.

Statistics have shown that more than 60% of Islanders are in their 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s. A recent Associated Press study revealed that the Island has a life expectancy higher than that of any Long Island Community at just a shade less than 93 years old.

That reality means that with the increasing aging community, the needs for help — both physical and mental — are increasing.

Religious leaders on the Island were quick to tell Ms. Rylott that there needs to be a greater focus on the elderly, especially those who are living alone without a support network in place.

Senior services, thanks to the town’s department led by Laurie Fanelli, are extensive and Ms. Fanelli has great knowledge of the needs of many.

The town has created an Interdisciplinary Committee of representatives of many groups to identify services already being offered and those areas where help is insufficient.

That group is in the process of creating a directory of available services to assist community members and caretakers about where to turn with various issues.

Stony Brook University Hospital is a resource to evaluate residents’ individual needs. The town also has a part-time social worker who can offer limited services, including referrals for some residents.

Neighbors reach out to neighbors and Shelter Island Presbyterian Church members have worked with Ms. Fanelli to form a “Friendly Visitors” program that trains volunteers to work with the town’s aging residents. It matches volunteers to those who live alone and may become isolated with their needs undetected. The volunteers visit regularly, spending time on a one-on-one basis with homebound seniors to keep them from being totally isolated.

By giving the gift of friendship, the organizers said, volunteers receive that same gift in return, along with information and lessons in life experiences from their new senior friends. The volunteers always get more than they give, according to Marilynn Pysher, one of the leaders of the program on behalf of the church. But there just aren’t always enough volunteers to fill the growing need.

That’s where the North Fork Coalition for Behavioral Health can help to identify more current services and, working with state and local government officials, help to fund more vital services to address the problems.

Like Ms. Rylott, others who attended the session expressed pleasure at learning about some of the services that are available and a sense of cooperation that can help to bring more help to meet needs.

In a couple of weeks, another meeting is planned with local and state officials to begin to discuss needs and funding, Ms. Rylott said.

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