Rural mental health care must not be overlooked
The Chadron RecordNov 26, 2017
The challenges that try rural communities in nearly all aspects of health care ? greater travel distances, fewer providers, heightened health concerns, lower incomes ? also stand in the way of the delivery of behavioral and mental health care services. While there is not a greater prevalence of mental illness among rural residents, a significant disparity exists in access to mental health services and care for rural populations.
In
A mental health professional shortage area is designated as such by the
Even with these incentives, it would require more than 1,600 additional mental health providers, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers, or psychiatric nurse practitioners to meet the need in rural shortage areas alone.
Efforts to build and maintain an adequate behavioral and mental health workforce are not immune from the circumstances which confront general rural workforce development and retention initiatives.
As the topic of behavioral and mental health draws the attention of