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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Behavioral health workforce

Addressing Opioid-Related Outcomes Among Individuals With Co-Occurring Behavioral Health Conditions: An Environmental Scan of Quality Measures
Presents the results of an environmental scan of healthcare quality measures relevant to addressing polysubstance use among individuals with co-occurring behavioral health conditions. Includes information on access to buprenorphine providers in rural communities.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum
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Indiana's Behavioral Health Workforce Report Series: Behavioral Health & Human Services Professionals
Provides 2020 data on Indiana's behavioral health workforce, including addiction counselors, social workers, marriage & family therapists, mental health counselors, and overall license renewals. Includes workforce demographic information, practice characteristics, populations served, services provided, and county-level geographic distribution of workforce.
Author(s): Sierra Vaughn, Hannah Maxey
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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Mississippi Primary Care Needs Assessment
Identifies Mississippi communities with the greatest unmet healthcare needs and offers recommendations for allocating resources, managing shortage designations, and coordinating the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals. Includes sections on social determinants of health, Health Professional Shortage Areas, Graduate Medical Education, and workforce development. Features statistics on various diseases and health conditions.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Mississippi Office of Rural Health, Mississippi State Department of Health
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National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP) Meeting Minutes, March 9-10, 2021
Summarizes the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice (NACNEP) meeting held on March 9-10, 2021. Includes updates from the Bureau of Health Workforce, an overview of the National Practitioner Data Bank, and a discussion of behavioral health workforce development programs, among other things. Features a presentation by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth.
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice
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Vermont Baseline Needs Assessment: Rural Practitioners and Community Stakeholders
Report details a needs assessment of Vermont's rural practitioners' capacity to treat substance use disorder (SUD). Breaks down workforce distribution by county and highlights their concern about various substances encountered in their practices. Discusses the need for consultation, resources, training, and technical assistance to facilitate SUD treatment.
Additional links: Report Summary
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Vermont Center on Rural Addiction
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Tackling America's Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Through Primary Care Integration
Explores how primary and behavioral healthcare integration can overcome the unmet needs for mental health and substance use services. Discusses barriers to integrated care delivery. Offers policy recommendations to improve the integration of primary and behavioral healthcare services through enhanced payments, training, and technical assistance, and improving access to behavioral health providers for consultation and referral.
Additional links: Infographic
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Mental Health Systems Solutions Explorer
Interactive tool offering evidence-based solutions to increase mental healthcare utilization, increase access to care, and establish a continuum of care. Contains examples of each solution in practice. Solutions can be filtered to view those specifically of interest to rural communities.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Tool
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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How to Transform the U.S. Mental Health System: Evidence-based Recommendations
Discusses evidence-based strategies to promote mental healthcare utilization, improve access to care, and establish a continuum of care. Offers 15 recommendations to improve mental healthcare, including policies regarding reimbursement, workforce growth, and digital and telehealth services, among other topics. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Full Report, Research Brief: Transforming Mental Health Care in the United States
Author(s): Ryan K. McBain, Nicole K. Eberhart, Joshua Breslau, et al.
Date: 01/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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Maine State Office of Rural Health: Strategic Plan 2021
Offers a current assessment of activities of the Maine's Rural Health and Primary Care Program, and includes recommendations to improve health outcomes for rural and medically underserved Maine residents. Features sections on Critical Access Hospitals, Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program eligible hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Rural Health Clinics. Includes statistics on primary care providers, mental health providers, and dentists.
Author(s): Pat Hart, Carol Kelly
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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Strengthening the Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Finding a Path
Examines gaps in the existing healthcare workforce, challenges facing entry-level healthcare workers (EHCW), current EHCW training programs and contexts where training programs are used effectively, and strategies and policy opportunities to strengthen the EHCW. Includes rural references throughout and case studies for programs in rural Alaska and Washington. Provides an interactive inventory of existing policies and programs that support EHCW training, recruitment, and retention.
Additional links: Entry-Level Health Care Workforce: Information and Programs Visualization Tool
Author(s): Shira H. Fischer, Ryan K. McBain, Laura J. Faherty, et al.
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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