According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), 89.3 million Americans live in federally-designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas, compared to 55.3 million Americans living in primary-care shortage areas and 44.6 million in dental health shortage areas. A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found that the current mental health workforce is only able to meet about half of the nation’s demand for behavioral health services.

PL – Now let’s “connect the dots” between this topic (above) to a USC study that suggests that patients are more willing to disclose personal information to virtual humans than actual humans. HERE’s my post about it. Kudos to those creating AI applications to advance our machines. But the time has come to use AI to advance our humanity.

Source: Kaiser Health News, Michael Ollove
August 20, 2014
“Pastoral Counselors’ Help Fill Mental Health Gap In Rural States