Rural Mental Health – Resources

Recruiting and Retaining Behavioral Health Workers in Rural America: A Toolkit for Action
Explores successful tactics and programs, and elements missing from many current efforts to recruit and retain behavioral health workers. Describes funding opportunities, pipeline programs, telehealth initiatives, innovative approaches to recruitment and retention, and legislative changes in 2019 that helped promote recruitment and retention.
Author(s): Nancy Baum, Jaque King
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Center for Health and Research Transformation, University of Michigan Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center
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Predictors of Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Treatment Use Among Rural Adults using Stimulants over Three Years
Details a study on the factors that predict mental health and substance use treatment utilization among rural stimulant users. Breaks down data from 2002 to 2008 by race, age, and substance use, among other measures.
Author(s): Michael A. Cucciare, Songthip T. Ounpraseuth, Geoffrey M. Curran, Brenda M. Booth
Citation: Substance Abuse, 40(3), 363-370
Date: 02/2020
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Supporting the Mental Health Well-being of High School Students
Report evaluates the perceived need for school-based mental health services and the levels of access to those services by rural students and students of color. Bases results on surveys of high school students and makes corresponding recommendations. Compares the access to mental health services in rural, urban, and suburban schools.
Additional links: Infographic
Author(s): Michelle Croft, Shannon Hayes, Raeal Moore
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: ACT Center for Equity in Learning
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Associations Between Stopping Prescriptions for Opioids, Length of Opioid Treatment, and Overdose or Suicide Deaths in US Veterans: Observational Evaluation
Highlights a study on the correlation between halting treatment for opioid use disorder, length of treatment, and death from overdose or suicide among Veterans Health Administration patients. Breaks down data by age, sex, and rural status among other factors.
Author(s): Elizabeth M Oliva, Thomas Bowe, Ajay Manhapra, et al.
Citation: BMJ, 2020: m283
Date: 2020
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Caring for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders in Primary Care Settings
Report explores how primary care providers can best provide mental health and substance use disorder services to their patients. Discusses the barriers to behavioral healthcare in rural areas such as insurance coverage, workforce shortages, and lack of transportation, among others, and highlights the role primary care providers can play in overcoming those barriers.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Issue Brief: Integrated Behavioral Health is High-value Care
Highlights the advantages of behavioral health integration. Addresses costs and healthcare outcomes and presents several models for integration in healthcare settings.
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Behavioral Health in Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities
Examines the prevalence of behavioral health disorders in rural populations with an emphasis on high-risk populations. Discusses access to behavioral health services in rural areas, and the barriers associated with the provision of prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Highlights programs and policy strategies known to demonstrate improvements in behavioral health systems, and offers policy recommendations for change supporting improved outcomes in rural populations.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): John Gale, Jaclyn Janis, Andrew Coburn, Hanna Rochford
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Self-Identified Barriers to Rural Mental Health Services in Iowa by Older Adults with Multiple Comorbidities: Qualitative Interview Study
Highlights a study on the perceived barriers to mental healthcare for chronically ill elders in rural Iowa. Bases finding on phone interviews with participants where they detailed their experiences accessing mental healthcare. Breaks down data by age, sex, and mental health diagnosis, among other factors.
Author(s): Lauren Elizabeth Pass, Korey Kennelty, Barry L Carter
Citation: BMJ Open, 9(11), e029976
Date: 11/2019
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Rural Women's First-person Perspectives on the Role of Mental Health in Substance Use
Presents a study highlighting rural women's perspectives on the co-occurring mental health and substance use disparities among rural populations. Analyzes interviews with incarcerated rural women with co-occurring substance use and mental health symptoms.
Author(s): Claire Snell-Rood, Michele Staton, Athena Kheibari
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 19(4), 5279
Date: 11/2019
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Inequalities in Elevated Depressive Symptoms in Middle-aged and Older Adults by Rural Childhood Residence: The Important Role of Education
Measures the disparities in the prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms by rural childhood residence and the influence of childhood socioeconomic conditions and educational attainment. Identifies the prevalence of depressive symptoms among U.S.-born adults ages 50 years and older using data from 1998–2014 Health and Retirement Studies – ongoing publicly available datasets of non-institutionalized adults.
Author(s): Audrey R. Murchland, Chloe W. Eng, Joan A. Casey, Jacqueline M. Torres, Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
Citation: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 34(11), 1633–1641
Date: 11/2019
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