Rural Culture is a Diversity Issue

作者：Kay Slama · 年份：2004 · 被引用次数：57 · 研究领域：Global Health Workforce Issues

Are people who live outside cities the same as those who live in cities? Just like urban residents, rural people live in houses, go to jobs, socialize, eat, and sleep. They have racial and ethnic diversity, like our cities, but otherwise, there aren’t many differences, right? This article will attempt to make the case that there are some significant differences in factors that affect rural people’s mental health, as well as in the manner in which we can most effectively provide mental health services to them. It is not only psychologists working in rural areas who need to attend to the differences, since rural people are often referred to urban areas for secondary and tertiary health care. If you work in a large medical center or a specialized psychology service, you are likely to assess and treat people from outside your city. More intensely since the mid-1990s, awareness has been increasing that residents in rural areas of America are getting less help than urban citizens with their mental health issues. Many reasons are well-documented in the surgeon general’s report (1999), the National Rural Health Association’s paper on the subject (1999), the APA Committee on Rural Health’s report (Mulder, et al., 2000), and the recent APA book, Rural Behavioral Health Care: An Interdisciplinary Guide, edited by Beth Hudnall Stamm (2003), who spoke via telecommunication hookup at MPA’s 2001 Annual Convention in Alexandria. These are excellent publications, and I recommend them to your ...