Urban versus Rural: The Impact of Environment on Perceived Psychosocial Stressors and Mental Health Symptoms

According to United Health Foundation’s 2013 Report, Alabama ranked #47 in health indicators out of the 50 United States.  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked Mobile County #38 of 67 counties in Alabama in terms of health outcomes based on multiple determinants.  With a 10.1% unemployment rate and 24% of the adult population lacking health insurance, many Mobile residents rely on two Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) located in Mobile’s downtown area. 

Since Spring 2013, the Gulf Coast Behavioral Health and Resiliency Center (GCBHRC) has screened 238 clients at the main hubs of these FQHCs through an on-going integrated health project aimed at boosting mental and behavioral healthcare (MBH) access through on-site referral/screening systems including administering a screener with multiple assessment tools.  This poster will present findings regarding MBH presenting problems and stressors by type of community (urban versus rural) after analysis of screeners from the time period August 2013 – August 2014.

Initial findings show that while clients from 38 zip codes of Mobile and Baldwin Counties access healthcare service from the two FQHCs, 10 zip codes do so with more frequency: 5 rural, 5 urban.  While both types of communities screen with high rates of depression and anxiety symptoms, three stressors emerged as occurring at significantly different rates in the two settings.  These are: divorce/separation, personal arrest/incarceration, and problems from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  As these findings are based on August 2013 – January 2014 data, we expect the extra seven months of collection will add results.