A community needs assessment for rural mental health promotion

Abstract

This paper describes the needs assessment phase of a mental health promotion programme for rural communities in Ireland. As part of a larger study encompassing four rural communities, a cross-sectional study of the mental health beliefs and perceptions of 1014 people was carried out. Employing a combination of interviewer-administered questionnaire and the vignette method, the needs assessment explores the levels of awareness, current practices, attitudes and stigma concerning depression and suicide among a randomly selected quota sample of community members. Lower levels of awareness, less confidence in dealing with mental health issues, negative attitudes to help-seeking and social stigma emerge as particular issues for men and the under 40 age group. Women were found to have more positive attitudes generally, were more likely to use informal social support networks and were more open about discussing mental health matters. The predominant interpretation of the depression vignette was to view it as a mental health problem with good prospects for recovery given appropriate help. Social relationships, negative thinking patterns and social stresses were perceived as being particularly important in explaining the origins of depression. The implications of the findings for planning the intervention phase of the project are considered.

Adolescents in crisis: A geographic exploration of help-seeking behavior using data from Crisis Text Line

“…Goldman-Mellor et al found rural California adolescents were significantly less likely to report suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, despite higher rates of suicide (2017). Findings of negative attitudes towards helpseeking for mental health issues and suicide may explain reduced help-seeking among rural communities (Barry et al, 2000;Hirsch, 2006). Low rates of CTL use among rural populations support these findings on a national scale.…”

“…it's all the same no matter how much fruit or vegetables or fresh air we get”: Traveller women's perceptions of illness causation and health inequalities

“…The method is described by Finch (1987) as one which acknowledges that meanings are social and it provides a means to express them that does not restrict the respondent to choices which may be contrary to their belief, as can happen in survey methods. The vignette method has been used previously in the Irish context, for example to explore implicit beliefs concerning mental health problems (Barry, Doherty, Hope, Sixsmith, & Kelleher, 2000).…”

An Integral Perspective on Depression

“…1991;Richter, 1995); poor social skills (Gable & Shean, 2000); poor interpersonal relationships (Zlotnick et al, 2000); communication problems (Segrin, 1997); distressing interpersonal context (Whifen & Aube, 1999); and other social factors (Stroebe, 1997). We identified only some studies pointing to a combination of factors from two quadrants, Upper Right + Lower Right, that is, genetic liability to stressful environment (Kendler, 1998;Kendler et al, 1997), and only one study emphasising multiple causes from three quadrants, Upper Left + Lower Left + Lower Right, namely, negative thinking patterns, social relationships, and social stresses (Barry et al, 2000).…”