Rural Behavioral Health

Link	View Research Recap
Date	11/2017
Description	Rural behavioral health issues are compounded by a lack of access to care, workforce shortages, reimbursement issues, and high rates of uninsured or under-insurance. This resource provides a summary of the Rural Health Research Centers' most recent research on behavioral health.
Topics	Mental and behavioral health, Substance use and treatment

Rural Health Research Products Included in this Recap

• The 2014 Update of the Rural-Urban Chartbook
  Chartbook
  North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
  Date: 10/2014
  This chartbook includes trends and disparities in urban/rural health. Reports on population characteristics include age, race and ethnicity, and poverty; risk factors such as smoking, alcohol use, and obesity; mortality data; health status measures such as adolescent births and total tooth loss; healthcare access/use; and mental health measures.
• Adverse Childhood Experiences in Rural and Urban Contexts
  Policy Brief
  Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 04/2016
  This study was designed to address the gap in the literature examining rural-urban differences in adults' exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and to inform health system initiatives geared toward mitigating the impacts of ACEs on rural populations.
• Changes in the Supply of Physicians With a DEA DATA Waiver to Prescribe Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
  Policy Brief
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 05/2017
  This project mapped the location of physicians with a DEA DATA 2000 waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder in July 2012 and April 2016. The number of counties without a waivered physician and the ratio of waivered physicians per 100,000 population is reported by the rural/urban status of the county.
• Mental Health First Aid in Rural Communities: Appropriateness and Outcomes
  Journal Article
  Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 01/2016
  Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), an early intervention training program for general audiences, has been promoted as a means for improving population-level behavioral health in rural communities by encouraging treatment-seeking. This study examined MHFA's appropriateness and impacts in rural contexts.
• Rural and Urban Utilization of the Emergency Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse
  Policy Brief
  North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
  Date: 06/2017
  Utilizes data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's (HCUP's) State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) for seven states. Researchers explore, and describe in this brief, the use of the Emergency Department for mental health and substance abuse among Urban, Large Rural, Small Rural, and Isolated Small Rural residents.
• Supply and Distribution of the Behavioral Health Workforce in Rural America
  Policy Brief
  WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 09/2016
  This brief uses National Provider Identifier (NPI) data to report on the variability of the supply and provider to population ratios of five types of behavioral health workforce providers (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurse practitioners, counselors) in Metropolitan, Micropolitan and Non-core rural areas across the U.S.
• Understanding the Business Case for Telemental Health in Rural Communities
  Journal Article
  Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 07/2016
  This article describes the current landscape and characteristics of rural telemental health programs and then examines their business case.