Access to mental health care among Americans in rural areas remains a critical challenge due to several barriers. Reports show that 1 in 25 Americans has a serious mental illness (SMI) in any year (Morales et al., 2021). However, people living in rural parts of the United States are more likely to experience mental illness and encounter serious and distinct access barriers to getting treatment. Three critical obstacles to mental health care for these populations include availability, accessibility and acceptability Graham et al., 2020). In this part of the template, I explore my topic of interest and discuss an identified peer-reviewed article concerning the issue and analyze it. The second step entails a summary of the analysis and the strategies used as well as recommending an appropriate database.
Step 1: Research Analysis
Complete the table below
| Topic of Interest: | Access to Mental Health in Rural Areas | |||
| Research Article: Include full citation in APA format, as well as link or search details (such as DOI) | Weinzimmer, L. G., Dalstrom, M. D., Klein, C. J., Foulger, R., & de Ramirez, S. S. (2021). The relationship between access to mental health counseling and interest in rural telehealth. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 45(3), 219–228. https://doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000179 | |||
| Professional Practice Use:
One or more professional practice uses of the theories/concepts presented in the article |
The article presents a core aspect of improving access to mental health services in rural areas; the use of telehealth. The authors demonstrate that mental health providers and governments should invest in telehealth to enhance access to mental health for individuals in rural areas. Professional practice can use the article to demonstrate the importance of investing in broadband and other aspects of technologies that use the Internet to increase access to mental health services in rural settings. | |||
| Research Analysis Matrix
Add more rows if necessary |
Strengths of the Research | Limitations of the Research | Relevancy to Topic of Interest | Notes |
| The research uses a large population sample to increase validity of the findings. | Focused on few areas of Illinois. | The article is relevant to the topic since it shows the rates of access to mental health care. | The authors show the importance of access to mental health in rural areas. | |
| The article uses cross-sectional survey that improves credibility since data comes from different participants. | The authors carried the survey for a limited time. | The article is relevant to the topic as it focuses on determining the level of interest in telehealth for users in rural and urban areas of Illinois. | The authors demonstrate that more people would prefer telehealth to increase access to mental health care services. | |
| The article is also recent since it is published within the last five years. | The article focuses on an aspect of technology as opposed to looking at different items. | The article is relevant since it shows the degree of mental health usage among people in rural areas. | The article shows the importance of increasing mental health access in these areas based on the level of interest. | |
The article demonstrates the critical role of improving access and availability of mental health services in rural areas. The article shows that providers and healthcare organizations can improve access and availability of mental health care in rural areas using telehealth as a growing healthcare technology (Crumb et al., 2019). Therefore, I would recommend this article to help improve mental health accessibility for mental health providers and stakeholders.
Step 2: Summary of Analysis
Analyzing a peer-reviewed article is important to identify care aspects under study in research. My approach to the identification and analysis of peer-reviewed research entailed focusing on critical issues affecting millions of Americans. Again, I ensured that I isolate current articles based on CRAAP model; current, relevant, accurate, authoritative and purposeful.
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