The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 1 5 employment. Beyond the use of assessments, this framework equips career counselors to broach important conversations about social needs (Andermann, 2016) with their clients, to inform potential connection with community resources. These conversations may include explicit discussion about particular SDOMH challenges (e.g., education, safety, access to affordable childcare), as well as about the client’s sense of belonging, or lack thereof, within their community. These conversations should allow for increased understanding and rapport building through genuine listening and empathy (Annis et al., 2004; Covey, 1989). Finally, the framework implores career counselors to advocate with and for individuals within their rural community to provide equitable employment opportunities (Crumb et al., 2019). Such advocacy may take place through connection with local rural community leaders, who may have power to alter or increase the distribution of certain resources within the community setting. For example, a career counselor may advocate on behalf of their clients to the local county board of commissioners for increased budget toward affordable transportation access within that county, thereby broadening clients’ access to job opportunities. Advocacy with local leaders outside of government might include collaboration with community college administrators for provision of additional support for working adults and parents who wish to return to school, such as more evening course options, advisor support, or readily available information on scholarships. Again, considering the aforementioned roles career counselors may have (e.g., leader, evaluator), career counselors may also consider further training in program evaluation—or collaboration with those who have such training—to better understand the efficacy of their community partnerships, referrals, and other advocacy-related efforts made toward supporting clients’ SDOMH. Assessing and Addressing Social Determinants of Mental Health As noted earlier, SDOMH are inextricably linked to employment, which means career counselors in rural communities must acknowledge these challenges and seek to address these issues with their clients. However, researchers have also highlighted the importance of considering both facilitators and barriers to addressing SDOMH challenges (Browne et al., 2021). In a qualitative case study of staff at a community health center and hospital, participants identified practical facilitators of SDOMH response, including community collaboration and support from leadership, as well as barriers such as time limitations and lack of resources (Browne et al., 2021). As career counselors hold similar client outcome goals as community mental health providers, they can take these findings into consideration when determining how to best respond to clients’ SDOMH challenges through attention to opportunities for collaboration with community leaders (e.g., religious leaders, politicians) and resources within the community (e.g., food banks, health care providers). Another study highlighted the importance of collaboration, partnerships with local agencies, and understanding the role of the counselor in SDOMH response (Johnson & Brookover, 2021; Robins et al., 2022). With these findings in mind, career counselors in rural communities are well positioned to assess for and address SDOMH challenges faced by their clients (Crucil & Amundson, 2017; Tang et al., 2021) through individual-level action (i.e., counseling) and systems-level advocacy action. Systems-Level Advocacy Through Assessment To effectively engage in systems-level advocacy, it is important for career counselors to recognize and understand the needs of their rural communities. When using the Rural Community Health and Well-Being Framework in practice, it is important to complete an assessment of the rural health of one’s community. Ryan-Nicholls and Racher (2004) purport that it is imperative to assess rural health within five categories: health status, health determinants, health behavior, health resources, and health service utilization. Counselors may consider these items when assessing the needs of their clients in rural
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDU5MTM1