USM Muskie School Receives $2M Grant for Rural Health Research
Selected as one of eight research centers nationwide
November 8, 2004
The Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine has recently been awarded $2 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to study mental health and substance abuse in rural America, a growing concern among health officials.
"Mental health has recently been identified as a top issue of rural health policy makers at the state and national level," said Professor David Hartley, director of the Muskie School's Maine Rural Health Research Center , one of eight national centers for rural health research in the nation that has been funded. "Along with the seven other national centers, our research will be a major influence on national policy involving pressing rural health policy issues. We are gratified that DHHS has acknowledged this priority and positioned us at the forefront of research on this topic."
Projects already underway include a national chart book outlining substance abuse by type of drug and geographic area as well as resources for treatment. The information will be used to quantify the use of several types of substances, including methamphetamines, which have recently been singled out as particularly serious and growing problem in rural America.
Findings for the chartbook will start to become available in 2005.
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