Population density and receipt of care for common mental disorders: a cross-sectional analysis of English household data from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.
Alexander Thomas HiepkoNatalie ShohamSally McManusClaudia CooperPublished in: BMJ open (2024)
People living in less urban areas have a lower likelihood of being in receipt of psychological treatment for CMDs, which may indicate barriers to care access. Our findings differ from the results of a study using a comparable sample conducted 14 years previously. While Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services have increased therapy access nationwide, this may have had more impact in urban areas, potentially widening urban/rural inequalities. Further research is needed to understand how to address such geographical inequalities in access to mental healthcare.