Rural Behavioral Health Care discusses the needs and resources of the often overlooked individuals who live in rural and frontier areas. These areas of the country frequently lack sufficient services to meet their residents' health care needs. Federal policies, intended to offer relief to rural and frontier areas, are often developed from urban models. As a result, they may not be as effective at reducing health disparities as had been hoped. This edited volume presents a comprehensive analysis of the public and federal policy, clinical trends, and empirical literature that are relevant to the provision of behavioral health care services in rural and frontier areas. Chapter contributors are leading experts from different professional disciplines, such as family medicine, public health, psychology, nursing, and social work. The book examines the economic and social problems of rural and frontier areas, collaborative methods for service delivery, and the specific needs of special populations. It explains the unique cultural characteristics of rural areas compared with urban areas and also offers a detailed look at the differences between frontier and rural areas. The book successfully unites a broad spectrum of information and elucidates the distinctive health care challenges service providers and residents of rural and frontier areas face.
