GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Experts say the lack of access to mental health care in rural areas of Nebraska isn't improving.
The June 2015 Nebraska Behavioral Health Workforce report says there wasn't a mental health provider in 48 of Nebraska's 93 counties in 2014. According to the report, roughly 84 percent of psychiatrists are in metropolitan counties.
Dr. Howard Liu, director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska, says rural areas don't have all the resources to support mental health care. He tells the Grand Island Independent (http://bit.ly/1WIkSbA ) that the shortage could worsen, with the report showing more than half of the licensed workforce as being older than 50.
National Alliance on Mental Illness Nebraska Executive Director Tom Adams says people in rural areas can have a hard time simply finding others to talk with about mental illness.
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Information from: The Grand Island Independent, http://www.theindependent.com
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