Examining stigma and mental illness in rural communities

“Stigma is a widely recognized barrier to receipt of health and mental health services,” said Dr. Kate Beatty, a member of the Rural Health Equity Research Center (RHERC) and a faculty member in the ETSU College of Public Health. “This policy brief, which is the first brief to be released by the center, documents the burden of public stigma associated with any mental illness in rural versus non-rural communities in the United States.”