Mental Health Facility Access Deserts in Urbanized Areas

Background: Depression, including major depressive disorder, is among the most common mental health disorders in the United States and is highly correlated with comorbid infectious and physical health conditions. Treatment for depression in accordance with professional guidelines results in better health outcomes. However, barriers to accessing mental health service facilities to obtain treatment include distance from home or work to facility locations, lack of public transportation, lack of access to a vehicle, time, and financial costs. Because of these barriers, individuals and communities may lack access to mental health treatment facilities. In light of these barriers, the authors were interested in determining if, and to what extent mental health facility access deserts exist in urbanized areas within the United States.

Methods: Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services’ (SAMHSA) Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator (2014) was used to obtain location information on U.S. mental health treatment facilities.  A geospatial data file of 2010 urban areas and urban clusters was downloaded from the U.S. Census Bureau website.  ArcGIS software was used to geographically represent the urbanized areas and associated mental health treatment facilities across the U.S. Buffer zones, representing catchment areas, around treatment facilities were then mapped.  Coverage area inside the buffer zones and non-coverage area outside the buffer zones were calculated for each state.

Results: Mental health treatment facility access deserts exist within urbanized areas. Results from the research will discuss the proportion of mental health facility coverage area versus non-coverage area within the U.S.

Conclusion: Mental health facility access deserts within urbanized areas exist and vary by state.   Barriers to access and treatment facility location can result in access deserts which requires balancing facility location, services and equity.