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Board and Staff
The Center for Rural Mental Health Studies (CRMHS) was approved and chartered by the School of Medicine within the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center in 2000. The planning group of the CRMHS consists of the following:
James G. Boulger, Ph.D. (Director)*
Jim is a psychologist who has been in the Department of Behavioral Sciences since 1974; he holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. His research interests include the role of the family physician in the diagnosis and treatment of behavioral and emotional difficulties, particularly in smaller communities and the assessment of the need for health care personnel in rural Minnesota. He believes the CRMHS serves to foster community/University alliances of great benefit to all.
Gary Davis, Ph.D. (Associate Director)*
Gary is a Licensed Psychologist (LP) who believes the CRMHS provides a structure within the University to meaningfully investigate the mental health needs of rural communities and create solutions to problems that are identified. It is an opportunity for community leaders, clinicians, and faculty to work together on mental health projects that directly benefit the rural areas of the state and identify the funding to support them. He currently serves as the Senior Associate Dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School for the Duluth campus.
Jane Hovland, R.N., Ph.D. (Associate Director)*
Jane is a Licensed Psychologist (LP) who is an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Hovland has been providing psychological services to individuals and couples for the past 16 years and her areas of expertise include mood disorders in adults and adolescents, the impact that chronic illness has on mental health, and issues of loss and grief.
Melissa L. Walls, Ph.D. (Researcher)
Melissa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Her research interests include American Indian/First Nations behavioral health issues, community based participatory research, the sociology of mental health and deviance, substance use/abuse, and quantitative methods.
Nadine Hoven, M.Ed. (Coordinator)
Nadine is a Registered Nurse (RN) who holds a license as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). She worked in the field of mental health for approximately 16 years and has an interest in service delivery via "shared care" - the integration of mental health services into the primary health care setting.
Pictured l to r: Dr. Boulger, Dr. Walls, Dr. Hovland, Ms. Hoven, Dr. Davis.
CRMHS Board members include:
- Mustafa al/Absi, Ph.D., L.P. – Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth*
- Jim Gruba, M.Ed., L.P. – Human Development Center, Duluth
- Barbara Elliott, Ph.D. – Department of Family Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth*
- Bob Lyman, MSED. – St. Luke's Hillside Center, Duluth
- Peter Miller, MD. – Human Development Center, Duluth
- Marty Witrak, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.S. – College of St Scholastica, Duluth
- Sally Buck, M.S., - Rural Health Resource Center, Duluth
* denotes University of Minnesota faculty
The CRMHS is a multi disciplinary group bringing together the efforts of health care professionals in psychology, family medicine, psychiatry, and nursing to develop initiatives in mental and behavioral health care, which includes prevention, intervention, health promotion, and compliance with treatment recommendations.
As the CRMHS matures and operationally defines its programs, other community members and faculty in other AHC unity may become involved. Additionally, liaisons with other academic institutions and community organizations are being established to further the goals of the CRMHS and to support other regional efforts to study mental health problems in rural areas.
Recent and current CRMHS projects include an outcome study involving the provision of mental health services provided via televideo, an evaluation of five telehealth projects, an evaluation of a maternal-mental health pilot project, involvement in a project evaluating the psychobiological mechanisms of stress and smoking relapse, and the interactive video delivery of mental health services in primary care clinics. These projects include partnerships with Carlton County Public Health and Human Services (CCPHHS), the Human Development Center (HDC), AgriWellness Incorporated, Crisis Connection (Minneapolis), the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), the Northland Medical Clinic (Bigfork) and the Scenic Rivers Health Care Center (Cook).
Providing mental health services via interactive video (termed telemental health) is one way in which the Center is providing rural Minnesota residents with better access to mental health services. Integrating mental health into primary health care settings to enhance mental health service delivery in underserved rural populations is one of the objectives of the Center for Rural Mental Health Studies (CRMHS). In 2003 the CRMHS began providing telemental health services in one rural primary medical care clinic (Scenic Rivers Health Services located in Bigfork, MN). Since that time the CRMHS has added another clinic to its telemental health network (Scenic Rivers Health Services located in Cook, MN, Paynesville Area Medical Clinic located in Paynesville, MN; Ely Medical Center located in Ely, MN; Allina Clinic located in Mora, MN, and the Littlefork Medical Center located in Littlefork, MN).
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