A recent report from the Appalachian Regional Commission found that the number of mental health providers per 100,000 people in Appalachian Ohio is 51 percent lower than the national average and 41 percent lower than the non-Appalachian Ohio average. This has prompted efforts to increase support for students pursuing behavioral health professions and to create “behavioral health corridors” across southern Ohio.
The Ohio Population Health Alliance recently received $669,843 of a $1 million grant from Miami University to establish a behavioral health corridor. OAPH is a statewide collaborative group focused on improving the health of all Ohioans. It combines the resources and expertise of Ohio University and more than 50 affiliated universities, hospital associations, provider administrators, health care workers, academic researchers and policy experts to solve complex and pressing population health problems across the state.
A health corridor is defined as two or more organizations that share resources and collaborate on a plan of action to address health-related issues. The Southern Ohio Behavioral Health Corridor is a partnership between Ohio University, Miami University, and five two-year colleges in Southern Ohio, funded by the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
The grant will provide significant financial support to students at all levels, from high school sophomores to graduate students, and will include stipends, cost of living allowances and paid experiential training to support behavioral health students and fill a great need for services provided by behavioral health professionals in the region, where providers are often on wait lists and can require time-consuming travel to access specialized care.
Training for high school students to become community health workers will also be included as part of the career pathway.
“Demand for behavioral health services in Southern Ohio and Appalachia continues to outpace workforce growth,” Justin Wheeler, assistant professor at Ohio University’s College of Health Sciences and Professions, said in a statement. “Diversifying pathways into the workforce and supporting workers to continue their education will increase the system’s capacity to address behavioral health and its social determinants in homes, clinics, libraries, schools and communities throughout the region.”
“The shortage of behavioral health professionals in Southern Ohio and Appalachia is not just a statistic, it’s a crisis with individuals and families not getting the support and care they need,” Caitlin Reeder, interim managing director of human resources at Integrated Services for Behavioral Health, said in a statement. “The Behavioral Health Corridor can provide students with the support and resources they need to enter the behavioral health professions.” [This] This is not only an investment in their future, but also in the well-being of our community.”
Kelly Shaw, an associate professor of education at CHSP, served as the principal investigator on the grant application. “This is an exciting collaboration across Southern Ohio to expand and strengthen the behavioral health workforce,” Shaw said in a statement. “We know the need is great and that rural students face unique barriers to accessing an education.”
OAPH will also focus its outreach efforts on students who dropped out of school but are close to graduating. A key part of the effort to strengthen the behavioral health workforce is encouraging students who have not yet completed their degrees to stay in the community, complete their education and provide behavioral health services in rural areas.
