Examining the Outcomes of an Evidence-based Practice Via Tele-health to Address Rural Mental Health Concerns in North Carolina
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Since the COVID19 pandemic has occurred, mental health concerns in the United States have shown a steady increase (Mack, Whetsell, & Graves, 2022). Recent research from the COVID19 pandemic has shown that mental health services can be delivered effectively via telehealth platforms (Schaffer et al., 2020), is useful for treating substance use disorders (Mark et al., 2022), and telehealth has been shown to be just as effective as face-to-face therapy (Bulkes et al., 2022). Since North Carolina is nearly twice as rural as the national average (39.8% of the state's population can be classified as rural) compared to 21.0% of the U.S. population (US Census Bureau, 2003). We need to be cognizant of ways to effectively deliver mental health services to all residents of North Carolina. Access to telehealth services for behavioral health individuals in rural counties can help reduce travel time for rural residents and reduce the fear and stigma of seeking mental health treatment. One of the major challenges to getting mental health services to residents of rural communities is the lack clinical service providers (both mental health and substance abuse providers) available to the residents in those regions (National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services, 2022). There is sparse research examining if partial hospital (PH) and/or intensive outpatient programs (IOP) delivering DBT via tele-health has an effect on clinical symptoms (Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Hopelessness) for patients in these programs.
