Lambert D, Agger M S
Maine Rural Health Research Center, University of Southern Maine, Portland 04103, USA.
Health Care Financ Rev. 1995 Fall;17(1):133-45.
This article examines geographic differences in the use of mental health services among Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)-eligible Medicaid beneficiaries in Maine. Findings indicate that rural AFDC beneficiaries have significantly lower utilization of mental health services than urban beneficiaries. Specialty mental health providers account for the majority of ambulatory visits for both rural and urban beneficiaries. However, rural beneficiaries rely more on primary-care providers than do urban beneficiaries. Differences in use are largely explained by variations in the supply of specialty mental health providers. This finding supports the long-held assumption that lower supply is a barrier to access to mental health services in rural areas.
本文研究了缅因州符合抚养子女家庭援助计划(AFDC)条件的医疗补助受益人群在心理健康服务使用方面的地域差异。研究结果表明,农村地区的AFDC受益人群对心理健康服务的利用率显著低于城市受益人群。无论是农村还是城市受益人群,专科心理健康服务提供者的门诊量都占多数。然而,农村受益人群比城市受益人群更依赖初级保健提供者。使用差异在很大程度上是由专科心理健康服务提供者的供给差异所解释的。这一发现支持了长期以来的一种假设,即供给不足是农村地区获得心理健康服务的一个障碍。