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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Behavioral health

The Hospital as a Convener in Rural Communities
Examines the traditional and non-traditional role of rural hospitals as conveners that support community health initiatives and population health. Discusses examples of approaches used by rural and urban serving hospitals from Michigan and Virginia. Offers steps for hospitals on becoming a convener, and suggests community stakeholders for forming partnerships to improve health and well-being in their communities.
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Looking at the Rural Homelessness Experience: Definitions, Data, and Solutions
Explains how homelessness impacts health. Features a Vermont organization's work using the evidence-based Housing First model to help people with mental health and substance use challenges and others who lack social supports and have housing needs.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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VA Health Care: Efforts Needed to Ensure Effective Use and Appropriate Staffing of Suicide Prevention Teams
Report evaluates the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA's) utilization of suicide prevention teams to prevent suicides among veterans. Evaluation makes recommendations for elevating benchmarks of the program and improving team staffing.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Guide for Future Directions for the Addiction and OUD Treatment Ecosystem
Details strategies for addressing the opioid use epidemic and improving the current addiction treatment ecosystem. Breaks down the strategies by capacity, competency, consistency, and compensation. Discusses some of the barriers to treating opioid use disorder in rural areas.
Author(s): R. Corey Waller, Kelly J. Clark, Alex Woodruff, et al.
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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The Opioid Epidemic: A Geography in Two Phases
Examines population and geographic data on 2 phases of the U.S. opioid epidemic. Examines the association between overdose deaths and chronic pain, physical disability rates, and economic hardship. Discusses the shift from overdose mortality associated with prescription opioids to illicit and synthetic opioids in the early 2010s, including in rural areas and the Northeastern U.S.
Additional links: Report Summary
Author(s): David A. McGranahan, Timothy S. Parker
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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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
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 and 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
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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Expanding Access to Methadone Treatment in Ohio Through Federally Qualified Health Centers and a Chain Pharmacy: A Geospatial Modeling Analysis
Examines the provision of methadone at opioid treatment programs (OTP) in Ohio. Compares how well existing OTPs meet the need for opioid use disorder treatment by urban-rural classification. Explores how expanding methadone administration to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) could expand access to OUD treatment in urban and rural areas.
Author(s): Suzan Iloglu, Paul J. Joudrey, Emily A. Wong, Thomas A. Thornhill, Gregg Gonsalves
Citation: Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 220, 108534
Date: 03/2021
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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
Sponsoring organizations: Mississippi State Department of Health, The Mississippi Center for Rural Health and Population Studies
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New Hampshire Statewide Primary Care Needs Assessment
Identifies the New Hampshire communities with the greatest unmet healthcare needs, disparities, and health workforce shortages, and also identifies the key barriers to accessing healthcare for these communities. Features statistics on demographics, barriers to care, workforce, preventive care, substance use and mental health, maternal health, and outcomes, with breakdowns by rural and nonrural locations. Data in this report represents the New Hampshire landscape from 2013-2019, prior to COVID-19 impacts.
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: New Hampshire Rural Health & Primary Care
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