Unmet need for behavioral health care remains high. Behavioral health provider shortages and associated maldistribution of practitioners across the country may contribute to suboptimal behavioral healthcare availability, with an estimated 59.8% of the 5,035 mental health provider shortage areas in the US located in rural and partially rural areas. In addition, lack of access to…
Evaluation provides valuable information about the quality and effectiveness of a training program and offers insight into how current training activities fit within the mission, vision, and core values of a program. The Health Workforce Training Program Evaluation Toolkit is a comprehensive “program evaluation 101” resource for both new and established programs seeking to learn…
Novel approaches to providing access to behavioral health care, like collaborative care and integrated behavioral health primary and social care models, have shown short and long-term positive patient and family outcomes in frontier, rural, and urban communities. These approaches are complex and rely upon coordination, systems-based management, efficient communications, team and community relationships, and virtual…
Mental Health Counselors (MHCs) are a large and rapidly growing segment of the mental health workforce. However, little is known about this workforce other than its education and training requirements. This report describes a study that utilized an online survey to examine the characteristics of the current MHC workforce for the purposes of developing a…
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has been shown to be effective for treating opioid use disorders (OUDs), but implementation is lagging, particularly in rural areas. Telehealth may be an effective solution for helping to make MAT more accessible for patients suffering from OUDs in geographically remote areas. This report described a study that utilized geospatial analysis and…
The psychiatric workforce shortage remains a serious issue in the field of behavioral health. In 2018, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) designated 5,124 mental health professional shortage areas in the United States. Demand for the psychiatry workforce is projected to exceed the supply by 16,450 workers by 2030. Studies continue to show that…
A large percentage of patients experiencing behavioral health issues seek help in primary care settings. Most are discharged without receiving behavioral health treatments. Furthermore, roughly half of all care for common psychiatric disorders is provided in primary care settings, and patients are often more open to discussing mental health concerns with their primary care physicians….
Results from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health show a gap between the US population in need of behavioral health and addiction treatment services and those who actually receive them. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) were created in response to this survey, and expanded access to community-based treatment for those in…
Given the dramatic increase in opioid-related overdoses and substance use disorders (SUD), the need for greater access to treatment is significant. Medications in conjunction with psychosocial and recovery support services [medication-assisted treatment (MAT)] and other SUD treatment services often remain underutilized in behavioral health settings. In addition, barriers to treatment include lack of qualified treatment…
Currently, around 47.6 million Americans are living with a mental illness and 20.3 million adults are living with a substance use disorder (SUD). In 2016, only 43% (20.6 million) of adults living with any mental illness received mental health (MH) care, and only 3.7 million adults (18.2%) living with an SUD received any treatment. Peer…
