WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research

Research Products & Journal Articles

Browse the full list of research publications from this Rural Health Research Center.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

2010

Assessment of the Mental Health Funding Marketplace in Urban vs. Rural Settings for Individuals With Serious Mental Illness (Findings Brief)
Date: 03/2010
This study was designed to assess the impact of rurality on the source of payment for mental health treatments and determine whether urban-rural differences in payment sources vary for the seriously mentally ill relative to all other mental health conditions.
Assessment of the Mental Health Funding Marketplace in Rural vs. Urban Settings (Working Paper)
Date: 02/2010
Rural residents are less likely to have mental health services funded through private insurance and more likely through public sources than urban residents, suggesting that targeting policies through public funding sources could be the most effective method to reduce urban-rural disparities in mental healthcare.

2009

Differences in Prescribing Patterns of Psychotropic Medication for Children and Adolescents Between Rural and Urban Prescribers
Date: 10/2009
This study reports that prescriptions of all psychotropic drug categories increased for urban and rural populations during the 10-year study period. Urban youth were more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications by psychiatrists. In contrast, rural youth were more likely to have psychotropics prescribed by generalists or other prescribers.
Rural-Urban Differences in Depression Care (Working Paper)
Date: 10/2009
This paper assesses the association between rurality and depression care. It reports that rural individuals are more reliant on pharmacotherapy than psychotherapy.
Addressing Suicide Potential and Prevention in Rural and Frontier Areas: Suicide Prevention Toolkit for Rural Primary Care Providers
Date: 08/2009
Suicide rates in rural areas are significantly higher than they are in urban areas for men of all ages and for young women. Research shows that many people visit their primary care physician instead of a mental health provider for mental health problems. A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for rural primary care providers is provided.
Distance Education Training in Behavioral Health: A Rural Primary Care Needs Assessment and Pilot Webcast
Date: 08/2009
Primary care providers (PCPs) are often the only resource for rural/frontier residents needing mental healthcare. Mental health training is not easily accessible for PCPs working in rural settings. Distance education offers a low-cost, convenient way for PCPs to obtain the information necessary to treat the mental health needs of their patients.
The Association Between Rural Residence and the Use, Type, and Quality of Depression Care
Policy Brief
Date: 05/2009
The purpose of the project was to assess the association between rurality and the use, type (pharmacotherapy versus psychotherapy), and quality of care among individuals in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey with self-reported depression.

2007

Preventing Hospitalizations in Depressed Rural Primary Care Patients
Date: 05/2007
This study investigated the substitution of higher cost hospitalization for lower cost outpatient specialty care for depression and the extent to which insurance barriers impact service substitution patterns of outpatient specialty care for depression in rural and urban areas.

2006

Differential Effectiveness of Depression Disease Management for Rural and Urban Primary Care Patients
Journal Article
Date: 09/2006
Is there a differential impact of enhanced depression care on patient outcomes in rural vs. urban primary care settings? Differences may be mediated by receiving evidence-based care (pharmacotherapy and specialty care counseling). Findings indicate that care for depression improved mental health for urban populations, but not rural patients.
Mental Health and Rural America: 1994-2005
Date: 2006
This report provides a summary of the current knowledge base surrounding mental health issues in America's rural and frontier areas and an overview of the environment of mental health in rural areas over three decades.
Stakeholder Benefit From Depression Disease Management: Differences by Rurality?
Date: 2006
Despite increasing consensus about the value of depression disease management programs, the field has not identified which stakeholders should absorb the relatively small additional costs associated with these programs. This paper investigates whether two stakeholder groups economically benefit from improved depression.

2005

Community-Level Risk Factors for Depression Hospitalizations
Policy Brief
Date: 09/2005
This policy brief examines the association between depression hospitalization rates and community-level socio-demographic, economic, and healthcare system characteristics.
Differential Effectiveness of Enhanced Depression Treatment for Rural and Urban Primary Care Patients
Date: 09/2005
This paper explored whether a depression disease management program has a comparable impact on clinical outcomes over two years in patients treated in rural and urban primary care practices.
Are Primary Care Services a Substitute or Complement for Specialty and Inpatient Services?
Journal Article
Date: 2005
Analyses show primary care service use increases were associated with increases in all specialty outpatient services and inpatient services, as well as increases in inpatient/outpatient costs. Results show that health systems can implement strategies encouraging members to use more primary care services without driving up physical health costs.
Does Improving Geographic Access to VA Primary Care Services Impact Patients' Patterns of Utilization and Costs?
Journal Article
Date: 2005
This article examines whether the establishment of community-based outpatient clinics has affected access, use, and costs for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
One Size Fits Some: The Impact of Patient Treatment Attitudes on the Cost-Effectiveness of a Depression Primary Care Intervention
Journal Article
Date: 2005
This study reports the estimated impact of patient receptivity to antidepressant medication on the cost-effectiveness of an evidence-based primary-care depression intervention.

2003

Rural-Urban Difference in Health Care Benefits of Community-Based Sample of At-Risk Drinkers
Journal Article
Date: 2003
Compares the cost-containment strategies used by health plans of insured at-risk drinkers residing in rural and urban areas.

Unknown year

Assessment of the Mental Health Funding Marketplace in Urban vs. Rural Settings (Summary Brief)
Data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication show that rural individuals with mental health problems are significantly less likely to receive mental health services than individuals in urban and suburban areas.
The Association Between Rural Residence and the Use, Type, and Quality of Depression Care (Final Paper)
Rural individuals are more reliant on pharmacotherapy than psychotherapy, which may be a concern if this is due to poor access to psychotherapy rather than a preference for antidepressants.