Rural Project Examples Addressing Mental health

Updated/reviewed December 2025

Need: To reduce stigma around mental illness and substance use in North Carolina.
Intervention: The Beaufort County Behavioral Health Task Force created the Riverfront Talks: Substance Matters podcast to interview people with lived experience.
Results: As of December 2025, the podcast has 18 episodes.

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: To help individuals and families impacted by substance use disorder access treatment and counseling in rural Missouri.
Intervention: The CMH Addiction Recovery Program provides medication-assisted treatment, counseling, peer and family support, and other related services within a Rural Health Clinic.
Results: The program operates 5 days a week and sees 400 patients each month.

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: Suicide rates among men age 65 and older have been rising in North Carolina. Challenges include losing friends, illnesses, and the loss of independence – all of which can lead to isolation and depression.
Intervention: Chatham County Aging Services of North Carolina started the Men's Conversation Group to connect retired men in need of male friends and mutual support.
Results: Men in similar stages of life and varying backgrounds are forming friendships, engaging in activities, and taking care of their mental health.

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: Men in the agriculture industry face high suicide rates due to factors including long hours, geographic isolation, lack of social opportunities, and stigma surrounding mental health care.
Intervention: The Coffee Break Project, a program led by Valley-Wide Health Systems, Inc. in southeastern Colorado, encourages mental health check-ins for farmers and ranchers through a public awareness campaign and casual coffee gatherings that utilize COMET, an intervention model developed specifically for rural communities.
Results: Between eight and 20 people typically attend each coffee gathering.

Updated/reviewed July 2025

Need: Suicide among veterans has been steadily increasing, and rural veterans have an increased risk of death by suicide compared to urban veterans.
Intervention: A program called Together with Veterans was formed to help rural communities address and prevent suicides among veterans. The initiative is veteran-led, collaborative, evidence-based, and community-centered.
Results: Data collection is ongoing.

Updated/reviewed June 2025

Need: Union Parish, a rural county in Louisiana, continues to experience elevated rates of youth suicide, bullying, mental health challenges, and risk behaviors, as confirmed by a 2024 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).
Intervention: Union General Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital, started a program to educate students grade 4 through 12 on the negative effects of bullying, to foster positive social behavior, and to provide mental health support through school-based interventions.
Results: Over 3,500 students have learned how to recognize, report, and respond to bullying. The program's integration with broader community health priorities has strengthened mental health, reduced suicide attempts, and improved awareness of youth risk behaviors.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: Multiple organizations in rural east central Illinois needed a more efficient, centralized system for referring patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis to appropriate treatment services.
Intervention: The Regional Behavioral Health Network was established with a 24-hour toll-free crisis line, providing immediate access to trained crisis clinicians.
Results: Improved access to high quality behavioral healthcare for patients in rural east central Illinois.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: To expand access to psychiatric services throughout South Carolina, with a focus on underserved and rural communities.
Intervention: South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) created the SCDMH Emergency Department and Community Telepsychiatry programs to expand telepsychiatry access for patients in emergency departments and in various settings across the state.
Results: The program has improved access, affordability, and provided quality care for patients with mental illness living in rural and underserved areas of South Carolina.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

Need: To address shortages of nurse practitioners and mental health professionals in rural Minnesota.
Intervention: The University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Nursing implemented a 40-hour rural rotation for students in the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program.
Results: 29 students completed rural rotations in communities across the state; several students voiced a new openness to practicing in a rural area after participating in the program.

Added December 2024

Need: To train the next generation of psychiatrists in a rural context, while providing psychiatric care to an underserved region of West Virginia.
Intervention: A new rural psychiatry residency program at Marshall University, in which residents split their time between the rural town of Point Pleasant and the larger city of Huntington.
Results: The program welcomed its first class of residents in July 2024.

Rural Project Examples: Mental health