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Resources by Topic: Behavioral health

Addressing Workforce Challenges Across the Behavioral Health Continuum of Care: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summary of presentations and discussions from a July 2024 public workshop to address workforce needs and challenges related to behavioral healthcare. Includes discussions of telepsychiatry collaborative care to improve rural access and capacity, and recruiting and retaining Native American healthcare providers in behavioral health settings.
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2025
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Expanding the Opioid Use Disorder Medication Treatment Workforce in Rural Communities Through the RCORP Initiative
Examines the impact of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) on the workforce supply of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)-waivered clinicians in rural areas, who are able to prescribe buprenorphine. Analyzes 2017–2022 DEA lists of waivered clinicians to report on counties with a waivered clinician, clinician-to-population ratios, and treatment slot-to-population ratios. Discusses the impact of RCORP funding on Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) recovery services in rural communities.
Author(s): C. Holly A. Andrilla, Sara C. Woolcock, Kathleen Meyers, Davis G. Patterson
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(1), e12867
Date: 2025
Type: Document
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2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report
Report highlights the rate of suicide among veterans and the VA's role in suicide prevention. Discusses the causes of veteran suicide and the steps the VA is taking for suicide prevention. Breaks down rates of suicide by gender, contact with the VHA, and rurality, among other factors. The 2024 report is split into two parts. The second part is added as and additional link.
Additional links: Data Appendix, Part 2: Report Findings
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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The Effects of Message Framing on US Police Chiefs' Support for Interventions for Opioid Use Disorder: A Randomized Survey Experiment
Examines how U.S. police chiefs frame cultural messages surrounding opioid use disorder interventions and the focus on public health and harm reduction versus public safety. Analyzes data from 276 police chiefs related to overdose prevention centers, syringe service programs (SSPs), Good Samaritan laws, Narcan distribution, collaboration for public health and safety, and acceptance of officers in recovery. Includes demographic breakdowns of police chiefs, such as region, urbanicity, and population per officer.
Author(s): Brandon del Pozo, Saba Rouhani, Amelia Bailey, et al.
Citation: Health & Justice, 12, 50
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
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Perceptions of Substance Use Disorder in Rural Areas: How the Brain Disease Model Impacts Public Stigma
Presents a study on substance use disorder (SUD) stigma in rural communities by comparing the results from a 2020 study to a survey conducted in 2023. Explores rural perceptions in SUD as a legitimate illness and discusses perceptions of MAT and SUD treatment and recovery.
Author(s): Erin E. Miller, Sarah Schweitzer, Patricia Ahmed, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 24, 3531
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
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Unveiling Socioeconomic Disparities in Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy: A Comprehensive Analysis of Rural and Appalachian Areas in Virginia Utilizing the Multi-Dimensional YOST Index
Examines associations of rurality, Appalachian dwelling, county socioeconomic status (SES), and other demographic factors with smoking behaviors during pregnancy. Utilizes 2009-2020 Virginia Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data.
Author(s): Asal Pilehvari, Ashley Chipoletti, Rebecca Krukowski, Melissa Little
Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 24, 828
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
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Lifting Kids Up with Grace: How a New Mexico Community Built a Grassroots Youth and Family Center from the Ground Up
Features the GRACE Youth and Family Center for Everyone, a New Mexico grassroots initiative that offers free programming to children, teenagers, and families in a rural county with high rates of substance use.
Author(s): Gretel Kauffman
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Extended Reality Telehealth for Rural Spaces
Discusses how extended reality technologies, including virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive mixed reality, can be used in physical and occupational therapy, mental healthcare, elder care, and veterans healthcare services. Describes potential barriers to implementing extended reality telehealth practices, focusing on rural providers and facilities. Highlights examples of rural broadband and healthcare providers collaborating to implement telehealth services.
Author(s): Joshua Seidemann
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NTCA: The Rural Broadband Association
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Use of Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities by Medicare Beneficiaries with Dementia
Describes the sociodemographic and health characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries with and without dementia who use inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs). Examines diagnoses and utilization that precede psychiatric inpatient stays and outcomes following IPF stays, including health care utilization and mortality. Includes data on Medicare IPF patients who reside in rural counties and counties that are entirely or partially in a primary care or mental health Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA).
Author(s): Mark Sorbero, Flora Sheng, Swad Komanduri, Jodi L. Liu
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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Readiness of Our Crisis System for 988: Final Report
Analyzes the readiness of state-level behavioral health crisis systems to absorb increased demand with the implementation of the "988" suicide and crisis hotline. Provides an environmental scan and subject matter expert interviews to examine behavioral health availability and accessibility, state improvement plans, and data collection efforts. Includes reflection on the impact of "988" on rural areas.
Author(s): Kiersten Johnson, Shannon Blakey, Tami Mark, et al.
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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