Assessing mental health needs in the rural community: a critique of assessment approaches.

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The subject of rural mental health has received increased attention over the past two decades. Numerous studies have revealed unique problems and assets particular to rural communities. To receive federal funding, mental health needs of a particular area must be demonstrated, yet the government has never prescribed just how needs assessments should be accomplished. Largely due to a lack of direction, many approaches and instruments have been used with varying degrees of success. This lack of consistency makes the comparison of studies very dificult. In order to serve these areas better, a reliable method for assessing mental health needs requires development. In general, there are five busic approaches that can be used in assessing mental health needs: key informant, community forum, social indicators, rates-under-treatment, and survey. lke nature of needs assessment combined with the particular needs and characteristics of rural communities made these five approaches more or less desirable. In order to evaluate each approach critically, a number of criteria were selected from the literature and then systematically applied to each approach. Each approach was then evaluated from the perspective of the appropriateness of its utilization in a rural community. It is recommended that before undertaking a comprehensive mental health needs assessment, the nurse planner first evaluate the agency’s request for a needs assessment. It is essential to determine how specific the needs assessment information should be.