Examining the Burden of Public Stigma Associated With Mental Illness in the Rural U.S.
Date:
Duration: approximately
minutes
The prevalence of any mental illness, excluding substance use disorder, increased from 17.7% in 2008 to 20.6% in 2019 among adults in the U.S. Stigma associated with any mental illness is an increasingly important social driver of health. Public stigma refers to a unique set of beliefs and attitudes around mental illness that can lead to fear, discrimination, and other adverse consequences towards those living with any mental illness. It can also impact seeking of treatment and can worsen symptoms of mental illness due to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
This study examined public stigma associated with mental illness in rural versus non-rural communities using a nationally representative panel-based survey. Differences in stigmatizing attitudes and beliefs were analyzed by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and experience with mental illness (personal or knowing someone). Our speakers also introduced their latest study exploring rural suicide mortality rates. This study examines the variation in suicide rates by geography and explores factors contributing to differential rates in urban and rural areas in the U.S. from 2018 to 2021.
Presenters
Alana Knudson,
PhD
Alana Knudson, PhD, is a Senior Fellow in the Public
Health Department at NORC and the Director of NORC's
Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. She has 30
years of experience implementing public health
programs, leading health services and policy research
projects, and evaluating program effectiveness. Alana
serves as the Project Director for the ETSU/NORC Rural
Health Equity Research Center and the CMMI Pennsylvania
Rural Health Model Evaluation and is the Primary
Investigator for the Health Resources & Services
Administration Bureau of Health Workforce's Substance
Use Disorder Evaluation and Workforce Resilience
Evaluation. Alana also has state and national public
health experience having worked at the North Dakota
Department of Health and for the Association of State
and Territorial Health Officials. She serves on the
RUPRI Health Panel, the Board of Directors for the
Maryland Rural Health Association, the National Rural
Health Resource Center, and is a member of the
University of Maryland School of Public Health
Community Advisory Council, the Southern Illinois
University School of Medicine's Department of
Population Science Policy Advisory Board, and the East
Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health
Research Advisory Board. Alana received the 2021
National Rural Health Association Researcher of the
Year Award.
Kate Beatty, PhD,
MPH
Kate Beatty, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the
Department of Health Services Management and Policy at
ETSU's College for Public Health. She is affiliated
with the Center for Rural Health and Research and CARE
Women's Health where she is the principal investigator
of a multi-year study of contraceptive access at
safety-net clinics. She has studied patterns in
clinical service delivery in rural and urban areas,
organizational barriers and facilitators to access to
clinical and preventative services, collaboration
between health departments and hospitals, and the role
of inter-organizational partnerships in health services
provision in rural communities. Beatty is a
mixed-methods health services researcher who has led
projects on clinical capacities and organizational
change with a focus on rural access.
Qian Huang, PhD, MA,
MPA
Qian Huang, PhD, MA, MPA is a Research Assistant
Professor at the ETSU Center for Rural Health and Research
with expertise in spatial and non-spatial data
analysis. She has conducted multiple studies utilizing
secondary data and quantitative and mixed-methods
research. These include developing methods and tools to
assess underserved healthcare areas, creating the
Health Care Resource Index, building and maintaining
the South Carolina Rural Healthcare Resource Dashboard
and Tennessee Multi-Sector Plan for Aging Data
Dashboard, mapping travel time to all medical providers
and facilities, and analyzing survey results for
natural hazards planning. She has also conducted
several quantitative studies on the COVID-19
disparities in the U.S. and worldwide, which have been
published in peer-reviewed journals such as the
International Journal of Epidemiology, BMC Public
Health, PLOS ONE, and the International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health.