Providing Mental Health Services to Older People Living in Rural Communities
Abstract
Rural dwelling elders who experience mental health problems often have difficulty finding help since rural communities often lack adequate mental health service providers. This paper reports on the initial phase of a 5-year, interdisciplinary clinical research study that is testing the effectiveness of providing a home delivered, therapeutic psychosocial intervention, aimed at improving the emotional wellbeing and the quality of life of medically frail elders who live in rural communities. In the early phases of this study, the clinical research team encountered a number of interesting and often unanticipated challenges as it attempted to recruit study participants and provide services to them. In this article, we examine these challenges and share what we have learned so far about providing mental health services to elderly persons living in rural environments.
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Agencies in that study reported severe understaffing, and staff had high caseloads with little extra time.
“Agencies reported being severely understaffed, and staff had high caseloads with little additional time for these activities.”
From Task-sharing approaches to improve mental health care in rural and other low-resource settings: a systematic review (2018) · cites this paper as [62]
Setting boundaries and preventing burnout were major challenges in that study.
“Setting boundaries and avoiding burnout were also substantial challenges.62”
From Task-sharing approaches to improve mental health care in rural and other low-resource settings: a systematic review (2018) · cites this paper as [62]
In a home-based CBT study for medically frail older adults with caregiver training, recruitment was low despite staff enthusiasm.
“recruitment of older adults was low despite staff enthusiasm for the program.62”
From Task-sharing approaches to improve mental health care in rural and other low-resource settings: a systematic review (2018) · cites this paper as [62]
Small rural clinics can make confidential discussion space hard to find, as can home visits where providers meet family or friends.
“Small rural clinics can present challenges to finding confidential space for discussions,45 as can home visits where providers may encounter family or friends.62”
From Task-sharing approaches to improve mental health care in rural and other low-resource settings: a systematic review (2018) · cites this paper as [62]
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- Authors
- Kaufman, A. V., Scogin, F. R., Burgio, L. D., Morthland, M. P., & Ford, B. K.
- Venue
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-12-29
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 349-365
- ISSN
- 0163-4372 (ISSN-L)
- 1540-4048
- OpenAlex
- W1977915299
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG016311, R01 AG16311-01)
- National Institute of Nursing Research (U01NR004261)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Keywords
- mental health services, older adults, rural communities, emotional well-being, quality of life, participant recruitment, service delivery challenges
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alabama, Cooperative Behavior, Health Services Research, Humans, Mental Health Services, Patient Care Team, Quality of Life, Rural Health, Social Work, Psychiatric, Geriatric Assessment, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Frail Elderly, Rural Health Services
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