UofA project to increase mental health professionals in rural Arizona
May 30, 2018, 4:30 AM
(Pixabay photo)
(Pixabay photo)
PHOENIX — Rural Arizonans could see more mental health practitioners soon.
The University of Arizona’s College of Nursing is launching a project that would increase the number of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in rural, border and medically under-served communities.
The project was made possible due to a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training program.
“Arizona has vast areas where people have limited to no access to care,” said Dr. Rene Love, who heads the college’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. “They either have to travel or they don’t get services.
“My thought behind applying for this grant was, ‘Can we promote and help these students so they will see the value in working with patients in integrated settings in rural and medically underserved areas?’ And beyond that, ‘Can we encourage them to stay and help these patients in Arizona once they’ve graduated from the program?'”
“As Arizona’s flagship university, it is vitally important that the University of Arizona helps address the needs of our state. This includes providing quality mental health care for everybody who lives here, especially those in communities where access to care is limited,” said UA President Robert C. Robbins, MD.
“I’m glad to see that the College of Nursing is helping to meet this need while also strengthening training for nurse practitioners, who hopfully will choose to serve these areas once they begin their careers.”
Training will happen at one site for at least six months to support understanding of interprofessional care in rural and medically underserved locations. Love said the students will practice what they learn in sites in northern Arizona and south of Tucson.
