title: The Changing Context of Rural America: A Call to Examine the Impact of Social Change on Mental Health and Mental Health Care.
abstract: Recent social changes and rising social inequality in the rural United States have affected the experience and meaning of mental illness and treatment seeking within rural communities. Rural Americans face serious mental health disparities, including higher rates of suicide and depression compared with residents of urban areas, and substance abuse rates in rural areas now equal those in urban areas. Despite these increased risks, people living in rural areas are less likely than their urban counterparts to seek or receive mental health services. This Open Forum calls for a research agenda supported by anthropological theory and methods to investigate the significance of this changed rural social context for mental health.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Carpenter-Song is with the Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (e-mail: elizabeth.a.carpenter-song@dartmouth.edu ). Dr. Snell-Rood is with the Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carpenter-Song
authors.affiliation: Dr. Carpenter-Song is with the Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (e-mail: elizabeth.a.carpenter-song@dartmouth.edu ). Dr. Snell-Rood is with the Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Snell-Rood
mesh_terms: D060432:Anthropology, Medical; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D012922:Social Change; D014481:United States
keywords: Cultural meanings of mental illness; Medical anthropology; Poverty; Rural psychiatric services; Social issues