Minnesota State University’s creation of the Center for Rural Behavioral Health is a welcome step in addressing the needs of outstate Minnesotans.
Eighty percent of Minnesota counties qualify as mental health professional shortage areas, according to a state Department of Health 2021 workforce report. Dealing with that shortage is a primary goal of the new center, which begins its work in August.
As the center’s director, MSU health science professor Thad Shunkwiler is extremely aware of the workforce shortage in the mental health field. He teaches the students who will be entering the profession. He says having a center dedicated to rural mental health could end up serving as a magnet for students who previously weren’t aware about the field’s workforce needs.
Shunkwiler came up with the idea for the center in 2019 — recognizing mental health care shortages before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated the situation. He has been a reputable source in the community on the issue, including for a recent series The Free Press published on the status of mental health care.
The workforce recruitment goal goes beyond providing extra enrollment to the university. Without more mental health professionals entering the field, Minnesotans can’t get access to quick, reliable care that they need — more now than ever.
Telemedicine will be among the topics researched by the center, exploring how it has worked and how it can be better. The center will be part of the College of Allied Health and Nursing and its faculty and students and those in other related MSU colleges will be able to collaborate on scholarly work within the center. Continuing education for professionals also will be a benefit.
Outside the university, the center will seek partnerships with health care organizations, behavioral health care providers and other sectors, including agribusiness.
The emphasis on tapping into the community to pinpoint needs and to collaborate are key because rural residents clearly have different needs, such as an isolated farmer dealing with financial woes or an elderly widow having to move away from her small town to get more intensive care.
The center will be a welcome addition to MSU with potential benefits that can serve all of rural Minnesota and act as a model that could be used elsewhere as well.
