Rural Health Research Gateway

Mental health

Current Projects

Addressing Suicide Potential and Prevention in Rural and Frontier Areas and Development of a Suicide-Prevention Training Protocol
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topic: Mental health
Depression and suicide are especially relevant today in rural areas. This project will determine rural high-risk suicide areas, and develop a suicide prevention training protocol for primary care providers in these rural areas.

Assessment of the Mental Health Funding Marketplace in Rural vs. Urban Settings
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health care financing, Mental health
This study will use nationally representative data to assess how mental health (MH) services are paid for in rural areas and determine differences in payment sources between rural and urban areas. If payment sources significantly vary in rural vs. urban settings, then policies that are aimed specifically at sources of funding may have a differential impact on subsequent access to and utilization of care and point to the need for policies that are specifically targeted to rural communities.

Differences In Antipsychotic Medication Prescribing Patterns Between Rural And Urban Prescribers
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Mental health, Pharmacy and prescription drugs
Second-generation antipsychotics have become the treatment of choice for persons with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. Compared to first generation antipsychotics, many second generation medications reduce symptoms with fewer problematic side-effects and related major health problems. However, one aspect that has seen little empirical attention is how longitudinal trends, benefits, and costs may differ between urban and rural areas.

Differences in Prescribing Patterns of Psychotropic Medication for Children and Adolescents between Rural and Urban Prescribers
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Mental health, Pharmacy and prescription drugs
This is an investigation of the extent to which psychotropic medication is prescribed to youth (17 and under) by primary care physicians, psychiatrists, or other prescribers in rural versus urban areas. It will also look at the particular types of medications being prescribed by age, sex, and other demographic variables.

Financial Impact of Mental Health Services on Rural Individuals and Families
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health care financing, Health insurance and the uninsured, Mental health
This project will use the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to examine the financial burden that rural residents face in seeking mental health services, compared to urban residents. Implications of financial burden for access to needed mental health services for rural residents will be assessed.

Impact of Mental and Emotional Stress on Rural Employment Patterns
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topic: Mental health
This study will use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to investigate how mental health symptoms affect employment patterns, and the extent to which these effects differ by rural and urban residence.

Provision of Specialty Mental Health Services by Rural Health Clinics
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health services, Mental health, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Substance abuse
This project will document the extent to which Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) are employing mental health staff nationally, understand why more RHCs are not employing specialty mental health staff, and analyze the barriers to and opportunities for the delivery of mental health services by RHCs. The results will identify opportunities and interventions to encourage RHCs to offer this important service.

Rural-Urban Differences in Access to Children’s Mental Health Services
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Children, Health services, Mental health
This study uses data from the Urban Institute’s National Survey of America’s Families to examine and compare the use of mental health services by rural and urban children, age 6 to 17, relative to their need for mental health care, family income, and insurance status.

Rural-Urban Differences In The Use, Type, And Quality Of Depression Treatment
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Aging, Health disparities, Mental health, Minority health
As access to evidence-based treatment for affective disorders (major depressive disorder, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder) improves in urban areas, it is critical to monitor rural-urban differences in the use and quality of treatment over time to identify and address rural disparities, especially for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and ethnic minorities.

The Role of Local Jails in the Rural Mental Health System
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topic: Mental health
This project will investigate how rural jails manage the mental health and substance abuse problems of their inmates. Through analysis of the National Survey of Jails and semi-structured interviews with state-level and county-level/local officials, barriers to providing such services will be assessed and promising practices will be documented.

Webcast: What Rural Primary Care Physicians Need to Know about Treating Patients with Mental Health Diagnoses
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Frontier health, Mental health, Physicians, Technology
Training via distance learning technology that promotes collaborative care models in primary care is consistent with federal and state policy recommendations.


Related Topics

These related topics also list current projects: