Entries by Jay Andrew

The BC Rural Health Network:
Making Healthcare Accessible to All

Rural communities face specific challenges when it comes to accessing healthcare. Things like stigma, healthcare costs, lack of mental health services, lack of public transportation options, long waitlists and distance from healthcare practitioners can be significant barriers to resources for people living in rural areas. While living in rural communities can definitely have its benefits, […]

Fostering Cultural Sensitivity in Rural Areas: How to Build Cultural Competence

Promoting cultural sensitivity in rural communities creates an environment of acceptance, understanding, and most importantly inclusion. Cultural sensitivity helps break down the stigmas and misconceptions around various cultures, which dismantles false stereotypes and contributes to a stigma-free world. In this article, you’ll learn what cultural sensitivity is, how to practice it, and why it’s particularly […]

Toward Stigma-Free Support for LGBTQ+ Rural Residents

Maintaining mental health can be challenging for all rural folks, but especially for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) community. One in five LGBTQ+ adults in the United States call a rural place home; one in ten in Canada. It is critical that as we work to address mental health […]

Ending Stigma, Changing Rural Minds

Asked to picture rural America, most will conjure bucolic images of rolling hills, green meadows, and livestock peacefully grazing on pasture, dotted by the silhouettes of the hardworking, salt-of-the-Earth folks who work the countryside. These communities, however, conceal a darker secret. Having grown up on a dairy farm in upstate New York, where the closest […]

Strengthening the Emotional Muscle: Building Emotional Resilience in Rural Communities

Living in rural communities can be challenging because of the many barriers to accessing mental health resources. Being emotionally sensitive is sometimes looked down upon even in urban areas, but in rural communities, the existing stigma attached to seeking help can cause further difficulties. Additionally, individuals in rural communities are brought up with values of […]