title: Rural Mental Health Ecology: A Framework for Engaging with Mental Health Social Capital in Rural Communities.
abstract: The mental health of people in rural communities is influenced by the robustness of the mental health ecosystem within each community. Theoretical approaches such as social ecology and social capital are useful when applied to the practical context of promoting environmental conditions which maximise mental health helping capital to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerably as a buffer for mental illness. This paper explores the ecological conditions that affect the mental health and illness of people in rural communities. It proposes a new mental health social ecology framework that makes full use of the locally available unique social capital that is sufficiently flexible to facilitate mental health helping capital best suited to mental health service delivery for rural people in an Australian context.
authors.affiliation: School of Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia. rhonda.wilson@une.edu.au.
authors.forename: Rhonda L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
authors.forename: G Glenn
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: School of Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Usher
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012423:Rural Health; D012424:Rural Population; D066270:Social Capital; D012931:Social Environment
keywords: ecology; health; mental health; rural; social capital; young people