About 1 in 5 school-age children experience serious mental health issues yet few receive services. In rural schools, geographic isolation and limited resources make receiving services even more difficult. The IES-funded National Center for Rural School Mental Health is addressing this challenge.Educational research and development
The 5 year, $10 million National R&D Center is supporting
partnerships with a wide variety of rural school districts in three
states (Missouri, Virginia, and Montana) to develop and test ways to
support the mental health needs of their students. I recently spoke with
Dr. Wendy Reinke, the Center’s director, about the unique mental health
needs in the rural settings where the center is working and how she and
her colleagues are approaching this work.
Each state provides a
unique geological context that we anticipate will inform the tools and
interventions we are developing for wide use in rural schools. For
instance, Missouri sits in the middle of the country where half of the
school districts are considered rural and another third or so are
considered small towns. Virginia encompasses central Appalachia which
struggles with issues of under-employment, mental health, and school
dropout. In the northwest, rural residents are scattered across
Montana’s 56 counties, 30 of which are classified as “frontier” counties
with three or fewer persons per square mile. The tools and
interventions we develop will need to be feasible and effective across
these very different contexts.
Part of the work of the Rural Mental
Health Center will be learning more about the types of mental health
challenges faced by rural communities. From my current work in
Missouri’s rural schools, common areas of concern include youth with
depression, anxiety, conduct problems, substance abuse, and suicidality.
Identifying youth early can help to prevent or reduce the burden of
these problems. Accordingly, we plan to not only offer interventions for
youth facing mental health challenges but work with schools to prevent
and identify early, youth who would benefit from supports.
A cornerstone of the Center is the use of an assessment tool that will
allow schools to gather data to determine their needs for school-level
prevention, group-based interventions, and individualized interventions.
This tool was developed in partnership with six school districts (five
of which are rural) and University of Missouri researchers. Through the
IES partnership grant we were able to validate the measure and gather
stakeholder input to improve the tool and the overall intervention
model. These data collected using this tool will be linked to
evidence-based interventions, several of which have been developed and
evaluated through IES funding. It is very exciting to have the
opportunity to pull all of these projects together to support our rural
schools.
I grew up and attended school in a rural coal-mining town in
Pennsylvania. When I moved to Missouri, I had access and opportunity in
working alongside rural school districts. One recommendation, which I
think goes for research in any schools, is to operate as a partner with
them. For instance, the six school districts we worked with formed a
Coalition, and we include the Coalition as co-authors on any publication
or presentation that comes from this work. Further, we present with
partners at conferences and report back findings to the community. I
think an open and collaborative relationship gains trust, allowing for
additional opportunities to conduct research alongside our school
partners. Additionally, our ideas for studies are nearly always driven
by the needs expressed by our schools based on the pressing challenges
they report to us.
