Rural and Frontier Mental and Behavioral Health Care: Barriers, Effective Policy Strategies, Best Practices

Facilitators and Barriers of Implementing a Measurement Feedback System in Public Youth Mental Health

“…Through their efforts, care coordinators also aid with reducing the workload burden for mental health specialists allowing the specialists to complete other clinically intensive and often, urgent, tasks. Additionally, care coordinators in the Hawai'i system of care are civil servants (Department of Health [DOH] 2012), and thus tend to stay in their positions longer than public sector therapists, whose tenures tend to be characterized by high turnover rates, similar to those observed in other systems (Glisson 2007;Sawyer et al 2006;Shim 2010). Given their role in collaborative teamwork as well as the stability of their position, care coordinators are particularly well suited to implement a MFS.…”

Psychological practice in rural settings: At the cutting edge.

“…Within rural areas, telepsychology is often mentioned as a possible way to help alleviate problems associated with limited accessibility and availability of general practice providers, specialty care providers, and supervisors (e.g., Jameson & Blank, 2007;Sawyer et al, 2006). For example.…”

Clinical perspectives on the integration of mainstream mental health approaches and traditional aboriginal healing practices.

“…These challenges are exacerbated through national and local policies that continue to operate on misconceived perceptions of rural realities (Sawyer, Gale, & Lambert, 2006). Despite the need for improved programming in rural areas, the majority of mental and behavioural health programs exhibit under-resourcing when compared to their urban counterparts.…”

“…Quite frequently, rural mental and behavioural health services are office-based practices located in moderately sized towns that see people on a one-to-one basis for outpatient sessions. The most significant challenge in improving the delivery of mental health services for rural communities does not reflect common source barriers, such as funding or training, but instead reflects a failure by the rural mental health community to develop and advocate for innovative solutions to practice that reflect the unique needs of rural communities (Sawyer, Gale, & Lambert, 2006). …”

“…These challenges are related to issues o f isolation, colonization, trauma, and socio-economic considerations. Restricted access to services due to geographic isolation and socio-economic issues translates into the over-taxation of existing resources, including formal and informal mental health supports Considerations for the delivery o f mental health supports in rural geographical areas has been the focus o f various scholarly inquiries on topics such as outreach service modalities and challenges in the delivery of mental health supports to rural communities (Sawyer, Gale, & Lambert, 2006;Sherman, Pong, & Swenson, 2010). The following two literature reviews are aimed at supporting the primary research query.…”