MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing is using a $2.1 million grant to expand mental health services to underserved parts of the state.
The nursing school will partner with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Touchstone Mental Health and Northern Pines Mental Health Center to train students as well as provide mental health and primary care to rural Minnesota and those with limited access.
The grant came from the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Minnesota Daily reported.
University nursing professor Merrie Kaas said the initiative came from increased awareness about the lack of mental health resources in Minnesota and a link between poor primary care and poor mental health.
“When one has a mental health problem, it affects their physical health and limits their ability to reach out and get primary care services,” Wilder Foundation health director Amy Ward said.
Glenn Anderson of Northern Pines said psychiatry, pharmacy and family nurse practitioner students will train together to improve cultural competency of the health care providers themselves.
“Our goal is to train, mentor and bring along the next generation of mental health professionals who hail from communities that don’t typically get mental health services because they don’t have someone who reflects their culture, language and background,” Ward said.
