The mayor of Reno, Nevada, was facing $1.3 million in expiring coronavirus relief funds when she proposed using the money to offer text-based therapy to the city’s residents through the app Talkspace.
The proposal passed in December, but not without criticism from local therapists, who argue that text messages are no substitute for in-person mental health services.
Host Jane Clayson speaks with Mario Aguilar, a reporter for STAT, about Reno’s mental health experiment.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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