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Rural Mental Health – News

News stories from the past 60 days.

Jun 14, 2019 - Announcement of a virtual public meeting of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC) on July 2, 2019. Agenda items include an update on federal efforts related to serious mental illness and serious emotional disturbance, the National Institute of Mental Health Strategic Plan, and updates related to healthcare access and other issues.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 3, 2019 - Offers a perspective on challenges people in rural areas face in accessing mental healthcare, including restrictions on Medicare reimbursement for counseling services and a shortage of healthcare providers in rural areas. Emphasizes family physicians' role in seeing patients with mental health issues and taking a multidisciplinary approach to mental healthcare.
Source: American Academy of Family Physicians
May 21, 2019 - People with chronic disease are also more likely to face mental health challenges. In rural areas like Appalachia with high rates of chronic disease, this is especially the case, and is also correlated with a higher suicide rate. Exercise, healthy eating, and learning coping skills can help.
Source: Side Effects
May 17, 2019 - Farmers face a lot of challenges, among them accessing mental healthcare. Insurance coverage, lack of time, stigma, and difficulty accessing services are just a few of the barriers they face.
Source: News-Press Now
May 14, 2019 - Soon students will be able to use telehealth to connect with a psychiatrist instead of driving hundreds of miles to the nearest one. The rural Dickinson Public School District in North Dakota will begin offering the program in their 9-school network to supplement their school counselors and provide access to psychiatrists to make diagnoses and prescribe medication.
Source: mHealthIntelligence
May 13, 2019 - Farmers face higher rates of anxiety than other professions, but face many challenges in finding help. The Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) pilot will allow local nonprofits to apply for grants to support farmers and give them better access to resources.
Source: Montana Public Radio
May 3, 2019 - Research supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation surveyed farmers, farmworkers, and rural adults to identify factors affecting their mental health. Nearly half of respondents said they faced more mental health challenges than a year ago and a majority of the farmers and farmworkers surveyed identified financial issues as a top mental health concern.
Source: Feedstuffs
May 1, 2019 - A recently published study found that telepsychiatry combined with in-person care increased access to mental health care for rural people with severe mental illness. The patients from rural Missouri using the hybrid care model were seen earlier than the control group and more often.
Source: Genoa Healthcare
May 1, 2019 - A newspaper from rural Durango, Colorado worked with their community on a grant application to create a resource addressing youth suicide. Their community partnerships helped shape the resource and create additional community connections.
Source: The Rural Blog
Apr 30, 2019 - Agricultural Safety and Health Centers are promoting resources for farmers and rural communities in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month and invite others to share resources and materials and participate in the conversation about on-farm stress. They will also be offering additional tools each week on social media and webinars related to farmer suicide and rural opioid overdose prevention.
Source: Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health
Apr 26, 2019 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in conjunction with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, released a new resource to help faith leaders prevent suicide.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Apr 25, 2019 - A peer support agency in rural New Hampshire helps address mental health workforce shortages and offers support through crises.
Source: The Daily Yonder
Apr 23, 2019 - Notice of proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updating the FY 2020 prospective payment rates, outlier threshold, and wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), including psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or Critical Access Hospital. The proposed rule also requests comment on the IPF wage index and proposes updates to quality and reporting measures, among other things. Comments on the proposed rule are due on June 17, 2019.
Source: Federal Register

Last Updated: 6/14/2019