UTILIZATION OF A STATE-HOSPITAL BY URBAN AND RURAL LOCAL MENTAL-HEALTH AUTHORITIES

The authors present information about clients admitted to a state hosp ital in Texas, from both a rural and ail urban local mental health aut hority. Data were gathered from multiple sources and analyzed using qu alitative and quantitative methods to determine if there were differen ces in the populations admitted to the hospital from these settings, a nd in the way the two authorities utilized the state hospital. The res ults suggest that despite several similarities, clients from the urban setting have different types of encounters with the state mental heal th hospital than clients from the rural setting. Based on these findin gs, it may be appropriate for public mental health systems to differ d epending on their proximity to state hospitals. Moreover, policymakers may wish to develop systems that vary according to whether urban or r ural communities will be served.