HRSA Grant Provides Mobile Health Units for Mental Healthcare Access

The University of Tennessee’s College of Nursing was recently awarded a $3.7 million grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to fund a project which aims to boost mental healthcare access through nurse practitioner-led mobile health units.

There is a significant spike in patient demand for mental healthcare services, but not enough providers to meet those needs.

Experts found that more than one-third of Americans live in areas lacking mental health professionals. That percentage is more drastic in rural areas.

The project, Mobile Health Training: Underrepresented Providers & Underrepresented Populations (UP & UP), aims to increase the number of nurse practitioners providing mental healthcare services. To achieve that effort, the HRSA grant will offer full scholarships to 18 underrepresented and minority students in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP) BSN to DNP and certificate programs.

Over the next four years, the selected students and their PMHNP preceptor will offer telehealth services through mobile healthcare clinics one day a week to rural Tennessee counties such as Hamblen, McMinn, Morgan, Monroe, and Sevier.

“This project will help to strengthen diversity within the nursing field,” Mary Johnson, project director, PMHNP concentration coordinator, and clinical assistant professor, said in the press release. “It not only provides funding to increase the number of diverse and underrepresented students in the PMHNP program, but it will also help address the mental health needs of rural communities of Tennessee.”

The project also aims to modify the current PMHNP educational curriculum by incorporating concepts of social determinants of health, health equity and access to care, health literacy, culturally sensitive care, leadership, and communication.

“The prevalence of mental health disorders is highest among those living in Appalachian regions of Tennessee,” said Allyson Neal, assistant dean of graduate programs. “This fact coupled with limited services for rural residents creates health disparities. This grant will impact the lives of rural Tennessee residents by bringing them care and by training PMHNP’s to overcome the challenges unique to this population.”

As of 2018, HRSA has committed over $400 million in grants and technical assistance to address behavioral healthcare issues, such as substance use disorder, in rural communities. 

In early 2022, HHS released $13 million in grants to expand rural mental healthcare access. The awards provided through American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding increased services that address health disparities in rural America, such as trauma-informed treatment for substance use disorder.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused behavioral health challenges for Americans of all ages and backgrounds,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said at the time of the announcement.

“This investment is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address the inequities that still exist surrounding behavioral health and advance care in rural America,” Becerra continued. “It will support comprehensive behavioral health prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery interventions in rural communities – furthering the