title: Rural mental health leaders' perceptions of stigma and community issues.
abstract: This paper provides a description of the attitudes of rural leaders toward mental health issues using data collected in two rural counties (one in Virginia and one in North Carolina). Study participants (N = 63) are individuals identified as leaders making a significant positive contribution to mental health issues in each county. While the counties were matched on a number of demographic characteristics, the counties had one difference believed important: one had a county mental health center located within the county boundary while the other had no in-county mental health center. The study found that rural leaders believed that other community members held attitudes toward mentally ill persons that were more discriminatory than their own. In addition, rural leaders expressed that mental health was a more important concern to them than it was to the community as a whole. Finally, the importance placed on issues of importance to the community and the resulting issue of priority of relevance varied in response to the occupation of respondents. The study presents an approach to understanding how occupational structures affect community issue priorities among rural leaders.
authors.affiliation: R.O.W. Sciences Inc., Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Johnsen
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Calloway
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blank
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Starrett
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D003625:Data Collection; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009657:North Carolina; D011287:Prejudice; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014768:Virginia