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Providing School-Based Mental Health Services in Rural and Remote Settings

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Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health

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Abstract

Approximately one quarter of children and adolescents experience a diagnosable mental health disorder, during the previous year. Though prevalence rates of childhood mental disorders do not differ between rural and nonrural youths, rural youth face barriers to accessing mental health services including a lack of available, accessible, and acceptable mental health services. To address these barriers, school-based psychological services and school mental health (SMH) programs are innovations that increase access to mental health services in rural areas. In this chapter, we outline challenges to establishing effective SMH programs and offer suggestions for navigating them. Firstly, problems related to rural clinician shortages may be ameliorated through the formation of university-community partnerships with an emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration. Secondly, efficiently delivering effective services that enhance student functioning and well-being may be facilitated through the use of multilevel approaches to intervention and evidence-based practice. Thirdly, family and parent engagement is crucial for positive outcomes in rural areas particularly and may impact both the access to and effectiveness of services. Because these challenges exist to providing school-based mental health services in rural and remote schools, practitioners must carefully consider relationship-building in defining needs, building support for programming, establishing and delivering services, and monitoring the outcomes of services for effective practice in rural schools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA

    R. Elizabeth Capps, Kurt D. Michael, J. P. Jameson & Kasey Sulovski

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  1. R. Elizabeth Capps
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  2. Kurt D. Michael
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  3. J. P. Jameson
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  4. Kasey Sulovski
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Correspondence to R. Elizabeth Capps .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Flinders University, Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs, NT, Australia

    Timothy A. Carey

  2. Fac. of Business, Justice a. Behav. Sci., Charles Sturt University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Judith Gullifer

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Capps, R.E., Michael, K.D., Jameson, J.P., Sulovski, K. (2019). Providing School-Based Mental Health Services in Rural and Remote Settings. In: Carey, T.A., Gullifer, J. (eds) Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_27-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_27-1

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