Southern Regional Behavioral Health Needs – Gaps and Barriers

This information was taken from the 2022 Annual Report and provides a framework to improve behavioral health services and enhance quality of life within the Southern Region’s communities, focusing on identified behavioral health needs in the form of barriers and gaps. This rural region continues to face significant needs and concerns across the behavioral health continuum as noted below. This work and these needs will be reviewed and evaluated and updated in the coming months and when the board resumes operations.

Behavioral Health Continuum – Southern Region Gaps

• Behavioral Health Workforce
• Access to Care in All Treatment Levels
• Access to Care for Uninsured and Underinsured Population
• Knowledge of Statewide Community Programs and Resources
• Transportation

Significant Regional Needs – Barriers and Gaps

There is a general lack of services for both youth and elder populations, especially awareness or knowledge of state programs across entire region. Obviously, citizens in the southern region also utilize agencies and resources in the more urban areas of Clark and Washoe as needed and when travel and transportation are available and feasible, yet the scarcity resources and providers create a need to travel out of the region to access for specialists in healthcare, more intensive behavioral health, and other resources. Transportation for accessing medical and healthcare and mental health crisis transport all create a major barrier. Individuals and families often must travel long distances to the urban areas, and this creates issues with financial concerns, time off work and school. Lack of coordinated behavioral health crisis response is a concern. Nye County does have a more developed response in this area. Training and crisis planning needs to be developed and providers trained in other counties. There is also a need for increased harm reduction and resources around opioid misuse, death, and overdose. Some county coalitions are doing Narcan training, especially Nye County. There is one harm reduction vending machine in Mineral County that sets a precedent in the state, especially for rural areas.