scholarly journals Social Work with Veterans in Rural Communities: Perceptions of Stigma as a Barrier to Accessing Mental Health Care

10.18060/1891 ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Stotzer ◽  
Julia M. Whealin ◽  
Dawna Darden
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Global War On Terror ◽  
Community Issues ◽  
Global War ◽  
Armed Services ◽  
The Military

The nearly decade long efforts in the Global War on Terror have led to increasing numbers of Veterans of the armed services returning to rural locations, but little is known about their needs. However, recent research suggests that rural Veterans face a host of issues, but perhaps more importantly, are facing heightened levels of stigma in rural areas related to their health and mental health. This paper examines how mental health stigma in the military may feed into stigma in rural communities and serve as an additional barrier for Veterans in rural areas who are struggling with mental health concerns. Recommendations for the unique role of social workers in serving these Veterans, as well as addressing community issues around stigma, are addressed.

scholarly journals Medication by Proxy: The Devolution of Psychiatric Power and Shared Accountability to Psychopharmaceutical Use Among Soldiers in America’s Post-9/11 Wars

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-585
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Lim Chua
Keyword(s):  
Military Personnel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medication Administration ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Global War On Terror ◽  
Us Military ◽  
Army Personnel ◽  
Global War ◽  
The Military ◽  
Psychiatric Power

Abstract With the United States military stretched thin in the “global war on terror,” military officials have embraced psychopharmaceuticals in the effort to enable more troops to remain “mission-capable.” Within the intimate conditions in which deployed military personnel work and live, soldiers learn to read for signs of psychopharmaceutical use by others, and consequently, may become accountable to those on medication in new ways. On convoys and in the barracks, up in the observation post and out in the motor pool, the presence and perceived volatility of psychopharmaceuticals can enlist non-medical military personnel into the surveillance and monitoring of medicated peers, in sites far beyond the clinic. Drawing on fieldwork with Army personnel and veterans, this article explores collective and relational aspects of psychopharmaceutical use among soldiers deployed post-9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan. I theorize this social landscape as a form of “medication by proxy,” both to play on the fluidity of the locus of medication administration and effects within the military corporate body, and to emphasize the material and spatial ways that proximity to psychopharmaceuticals pulls soldiers into relationships of care, concern and risk management. Cases presented here reveal a devolution and dispersal of biomedical psychiatric power that complicates mainstream narratives of mental health stigma in the US military.

scholarly journals Mental health stigma: the role of dualism, uncertainty, causation and treatability

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. e100498
Author(s):  
Javed Latoo ◽  
Minal Mistry ◽  
Majid Alabdulla ◽  
Ovais Wadoo ◽  
Farida Jan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Stigma

scholarly journals LOCAL BENEFITS OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST: EVIDENCES FROM RURAL COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
GISELE GARCIA ALARCON ◽  
ALFREDO CELSO FANTINI ◽  
CARLOS H. SALVADOR
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Forest Resources ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Ecological Corridor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Local Use

Abstract Environmental services provided by forests are essential to the social reproduction of populations in rural areas. Perceptions about the services provided by forests play an important role in the planning of landscapes; however, few studies have investigated this issue. This study aimed at understanding how farmers perceive the role of forests in maintaining environmental services. One hundred farmers from the Chapecó Ecological Corridor - SC were interviewed. Provisioning and regulating services were mentioned most often. Water availability ranked first (65%), followed by the maintenance of habitat for biodiversity (34%) and firewood (23%). Income and local use of forest resources were the variables that best explained farmers' perceptions of forest benefits. Nevertheless, the use of forest resources has been limited by restrictions imposed by environmental legislation, which is affecting the perception of farmers about the wide range of environmental services provided by forests.

scholarly journals Challenging Media (Mis)Representation: An Exploration of Available Models

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-20
Author(s):  
Karla Perez Portilla
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

This article is a theoretical analysis aimed at articulating the harm caused by media (mis)representation, and at showing existing ways in which this harm can be contested. The approaches analysed are largely from the United Kingdom. However, the issues they raise are not unique and the models explored are potentially transferable. The examples cover a range of media, including British right-wing press, television and Facebook; and characteristics protected by equality legislation in the UK such as sex, sexual orientation, race, religion and mental health stigma. Crucially, all the initiatives presented demonstrate the group-based nature of media (mis)representations, which cannot be understood and, therefore, cannot be addressed through individualistic approaches. Therefore, the article concludes that the role of groups as the targets of media (mis)representation and as potential claimants should be fully acknowledged and enabled.

Spirituality

2016 ◽  
pp. 149-163
Author(s):  
Sandra D. Barnes ◽  
Tosin O. Alabi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Health Treatment ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Spirituality And Religion ◽  
The World ◽  
Role Of Religion

Religion appears to shape the daily lives of most children in America; the influence of religion often serves as a template for making decisions, establishing relationships, comprehending the world, and finding meaning in confusing and/or traumatic situations that children may encounter. To ignore the role of religion and spirituality in behavioral and mental health treatment is to dismiss a central domain of child and adolescent development as well as a potential path to healing. In this chapter, we discuss the role of spirituality and religion in children in rural communities and how they can be integrated into counseling and therapy as a path to healing.

The Role of Rural and Urban Geography and Gender in Community Stigma Around Mental Illness

2020 ◽  
pp. 109019812097496
Author(s):  
Shawnda Schroeder ◽  
Chih Ming Tan ◽  
Brian Urlacher ◽  
Thomasine Heitkamp
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Mental Health Disorders ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Stigma Scale ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Health Disorders ◽  
And Gender

Empirical evidence describes the negative outcomes people with mental health disorders experience due to societal stigma. The aim of this study was to examine the role of gender and rural-urban living in perceptions about mental illness. Participants completed the Day’s Mental Illness Stigma Scale, a nationally validated instrument for measuring stigma. Directors of Chambers of Commerce in North Dakota distributed the electronic survey to their members. Additionally, distribution occurred through use of social media and other snowball sampling approaches. Analysis of data gathered from 749 participants occurred through examination of the difference in perceptions based on geography and gender. The zip codes of residence were sorted to distinguish between rural and urban participants. Application of weighting measures ensured closer alignment with the general population characteristics. Findings indicate that for the majority of the seven stigma measures the Day’s Mental Illness Stigma Scale examines, the coefficient of rural–gender interactions was positive and highly significant with higher levels of stigma in rural areas. Females exhibited lower stigma perceptions than males. However, women living in rural areas held higher degrees of stigma compared to urban residing females. Implications of the study include the need to advance mental health literacy campaigns for males and people residing in rural communities. Additional empirical studies that examine the role of geography and gender in understanding stigma toward people with mental health disorders will result in improved treatment outcomes due to increased and focused educational efforts.

scholarly journals Culture and Rural Development: Voices from Poland

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Gorlach ◽  
Marta Klekotko ◽  
Piotr Nowak
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Development ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Dimensional Image

Abstract The paper is focused on the issue of culture and its connections to rural developments. It was based on the assumption that the culture has various impacts on rural communities` life, as well as, it has been present in various ways in functioning and changes that might be observed in rural areas. In our opinion, such a perspective should be presented in a more detailed way in order to stress the multiple and various impact of cultural issues on economic and social transformations in rural areas. Therefore, we divided our paper into three consecutive parts. In the first one, we discussed the multi-dimensional image of culture, and its role in human development. In the second one, we discussed some changes in the mechanisms of rural development, perceived as moving from the traditional to the contemporary one. We wanted to stress that culture seems to be an important part of the latter one. The last part of our considerations brought some empirical evidence from Poland focused on the role of culture in rural developments showing, at the same type, some examples of this new mechanism of rural development.

scholarly journals Compositional, Contextual, and Collective Community Factors in Mental Health and Well-Being in Australian Rural Communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Collins ◽  
Bernadette M. Ward ◽  
Pamela Snow ◽  
Sandra Kippen ◽  
Fiona Judd
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Geographic Variations ◽  
Community Factors ◽  
Health And Well Being

There are disproportionately higher and inconsistently distributed rates of recorded suicides in rural areas. Patterns of rural suicide are well documented, but they remain poorly understood. Geographic variations in physical and mental health can be understood through the combination of compositional, contextual, and collective factors pertaining to particular places. The aim of this study was to explore the role of “place” contributing to suicide rates in rural communities. Seventeen mental health professionals participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews. Principles of grounded theory were used to guide the analysis. Compositional themes were demographics and perceived mental health issues; contextual themes were physical environment, employment, housing, and mental health services; and collective themes were town identity, community values, social cohesion, perceptions of safety, and attitudes to mental illness. It is proposed that connectedness may be the underlying mechanism by which compositional, contextual, and collective factors influence mental health and well-being in rural communities.

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