Rural Mental Health – Resources

Mental Health Training: Strategies for Small and Rural Law Enforcement Agencies
Offers strategies for rural law enforcement departments to increase their mental health competency for the purpose of effective response to mental health crisis calls. Address challenges in both mental healthcare access in rural areas as well as mental health training access for law enforcement.
Date: 05/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Bureau of Justice Assistance, Council of State Governments, U.S. Department of Justice
view details

Pain in the Nation: The Epidemics of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths - Special Feature: Two Decades of the Drug Overdose Crisis
Highlights the rates of drug, alcohol, and suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2020 and from 1999 to 2020. Explores the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on deaths of despair and the state of the ongoing opioid crisis. Breaks down data by age, region, and rurality, among other measures.
Date: 05/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
view details

State Medicaid Managed Care and Access to Rural Behavioral Health Services
Details how states with Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) are using MCO contract language to increase access to behavioral healthcare through service access requirements, provider network requirements, and telehealth utilization policies. Includes links to available MCO contracts and requests for applications.
Author(s): Eliza Mette, Jodi Manz
Date: 05/2022
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
view details

Bringing Mental Health Services to Rural Residents
Describes how rural areas are using teams of lay mental health workers and mental health professionals to provide mental health services. Features a new library initiative in Texas and an established crisis line in Georgia.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details

Suicide Among American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans Who Use Veterans Health Administration Care: 2004–2018
Examines suicide rates between 2004 and 2018 in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans who utilized healthcare services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Examines trends in suicide rates by 5-year observation periods starting in 2004 and breaks down data by age, sex, and race (single race AI/AN or multi-race AI/AN).
Author(s): Nathaniel V. Mohatt, Claire A. Hoffmire, Alexandra L. Schneider, et al.
Citation: Medical Care, 60(4), 275-278
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
view details

Response to Suicide in Rural Communities: A Panel Discussion
Webinar recording features a discussion about youth suicide prevention in both rural schools and communities. Highlights rates of suicide among youth aged 10 to 24 from 2009-2018 and details the perspectives of mental health professionals working in rural communities.
Date: 04/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center
view details

Mental Health Service Use, Suicide Behavior, and Emergency Department Visits Among Rural US Veterans Who Received Video-Enabled Tablets During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Results of a study to examine whether a United States Veterans Affairs initiative to distribute video-enabled tablets during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with mental healthcare access, suicide behavior, or emergency department (ED) visits among rural veterans. Features demographics and statistics on mental health services use and ED visits, with breakdowns by tablet recipients and nonrecipients.
Author(s): Kritee Gujral, James Van Campen, Josephine Jacobs, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 5(4)
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
view details

Mental Health Care in the United States: The Case for Federal Action
Bipartisan report summarizing findings from three Senate Finance Committee hearings and a request for information regarding challenges in the mental healthcare system. Describes the prevalence of behavioral health conditions in the United States, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and spending on behavioral health. Outlines key challenges across five cross-cutting areas: the behavioral health workforce; children, adolescents, and young adults; access to care, integration, and care coordination; mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) parity; and telehealth. Includes information on challenges facing rural and underserved communities.
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance
view details

Strengthening Federal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Programs: Opportunities, Challenges, and Emerging Issues
Presents a full committee hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions discussing the current state of federal mental health and substance use disorder programs. Features testimonies from representatives of the Heath Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Additional links: Carole Johnson Testimony, Joshua A. Gordon Testimony, Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon Testimony, Nora D. Volkow Testimony
Date: 03/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
view details

The Role of Race in Rural-Urban Suicide Disparities
Explores the role race-ethnicity plays in understanding the rural-urban disparity in rates of suicide among Veterans Health Administration (VHS) patients. Breaks down data by race, age, and rural versus urban location, among other measures.
Author(s): Talya Peltzman, Daniel J. Gottlieb, Maxwell Levis, Brian Shiner
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(2), 346-354
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
view details