Improving Mental Health Service For The Mentally Ill

There are many ways in which people view mental illness. “Some analysts suggest that the difference in types of mental disorders is linked to gender-role socialization, which instills aggressiveness in men and learned helplessness in women” (Kendall, 2013, p. 231). “Social scientists Joe R. Feagin and Melvin P. Sikes found that repeated personal encounters with racial hostility deeply affect the psychological well-being of most African Americans” (Kendall, 2013). “Feagin and Hernán Vera found that white Americans also pay a high psychic cost for the prevalence of racism because it

Grohol, J. (2011). Mental Health Needs of Older Americans. Psych Central. Retrieved on September 29, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/05/02/mental-health-needs-of-older-americans/

The Diagnostic Statistical Manual is used to diagnosis persons that are getting assessed with mental health disorders. The manual contains criteria the clinician can use to diagnosis a client. If the client meets a certain number of markers then they are given a diagnosis of a particular disorder. But, what if it’s not that easy? For African Americans, there has been a history of getting misdiagnosis by clinicians which has led to some mistrust. The cultural differences between African Americans and their white clinicians can possibly lead to the misdiagnosis of the clients. An article on clinician race states, “African Americans are less likely to be diagnosed with mood disorders and more likely to be be diagnosed with schizophrenia” (Adebimpe, 1981; Neighbors, 1997). Within this review, we will explore research conducted by scholars that examine the relationships between the diagnoses of African Americans by White Clinicians.

A national strategy for promoting mental wellbeing and mental health is No Health Without Mental Health.

The final article I analyzed was titled “Aging Parents of Adults with Serious Mental Illness” and was written by Jennifer Van Pelt. This article sought to address the type of support parents caring for special needs adult children require as they age. It discussed how parents are the primary caregivers to children with a severe mental illness, or SMI, throughout the majority of the child’s life. The amount of care provided to adults with SMI by their aging parents is so substantial that if parental caregivers stopped providing care, public programs could never handle it. The author of this article wanted to put more focus on assisting the aging caregiver population, increase their emotional well-being, and lower their stress burden through the use of a social work home-based intervention program. In the pilot study, families received instruction on problem-solving techniques, education about the adult child’s particular mental illness, and sessions that included cognitive therapy, stress management, behavioral management, and future planning. This initial study yielded promising results, including greater life satisfaction and less emotional stress reported by aging parents. The author concludes the article by discussing the importance of planning for the future and how the adult child with SMI will be taken care of after the parents’ deaths.

The lack of mental health care services for minorities is a long-standing problem in the United States. The first time the issue received attention was in 1985, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report that described serious health discrepancies that minority populations were enduring. In 1986, because of this report, the Office of Minority Health was formed to assist in the reduction of the health care shortages for

13.2% of the United States population identifies themselves as Black as African Americans, and of those over 16% had an mental illness that was diagnosable. The socio economic impact of a history of slavery, sharecropping and race-based exclusion from health, racism, spiritual beliefs, social and economic resources, education and other factors are key factors that contribute to African American disparities today. Many of these things are linked to mental health. According to the US department of health, African Americans are 20% more likely to report having serious psychological distress than in non-Hispanic whites (. Despite knowing this, African Americans are less likely to seek mental health services than white Americans.

My population of interest thus meet the definition of a vulnerable population. Most African Americans women living in Nursing homes suffer from Depression. It could be as a result from other chronic illnesses and not just a single diagnosis of Depression. Some of the most common reasons they are admitted into long-term care facilities is because of Stroke, Diabetes with amputation, Cancer, lack of care givers, lack of finances, homelessness, age, and limited social and economic resources. These are all the factor that determines ones vulnerability. African

According to the popular media report issued by CNN, latinos in general, have been struggling to find help for mental health issues amongst their ever growing population (Rodriguez, 2013). Even though Obamacare ensures affordable healthcare for 6 million latinos, it’s still not enough for the hispanic community who are suffering from mental illness to seek help (Rodriguez, 2013). The major fear in the latino community is the fact of being stigmatized when obtaining help from mental institutions and services (Rodriguez, 2013). Therefore, many community members refuse to seek help and the mental illnesses go unnoticed. And even when the mental illness are acknowledged, latinos are known for asking extended family members, the community, church leaders, and spiritual healers for help and treatment instead of admitting themselves at hospitals (Rodriguez, 2013). Many latinos feel apprehensive towards mental illnesses and therefore, searching for help seems like such a taboo in the community. Moreover, according to the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, Hispanics are a high-risk group for depression, substance abuse and anxiety. About 1 in every 7 Latinos has attempted suicide (Rodriguez, 2013). Therefore, this puts them more at risk because of the lack of efficient treatment and care for people suffering with mental illnesses in their community especially in this generation. Furthemore, many elderly Latinos in the population find this acculturation overwhelming

(2) Disparities between the health of persons with mental illness as compared with that of those without, or (3) disparities between populations with respect to mental health and the quality, accessibility, and outcomes of mental health care ( Safran, M. A., Mays Jr, R. A., Huang, L. N., et al.,2009). Elderly immigrants are among the nation’s most vulnerable minority groups due to their limited health literacy ( Cordaso, Asch, Franco, & Magione, 2009) and serious health disparities, with many experiencing significantly worse health outcomes as compared to other groups. The term elderly immigrants refers to individuals 65 years of age or older who were not born in the United States (Leach,

As discussed in class, little advancement has been made in the field of mental health care over the past two decades. Rates of mental illness continue to be high especially among certain subgroups, but progress has been stunted by stigma and social environmental issues. Mental health disparities, like many other health disparities, are embedded within a trend of socioeconomic differences (Miranda, McGuire, Williams, & Wang, 2008). Racial and class disparities exist among those afflicted

Statement of the Problem/Issue: Providing geriatric patients with better options for mental healthcare is an ongoing issue in long-term care statewide. Under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987, congress made a Preadmission screening and resident review program (PASRR), to help alleviate worries that numerous individuals with genuine emotional instability and mental impediment were living in nursing homes that lacked sufficient assets to suitably meet their needs. PASRR enactment obliges state Medicaid organizations to implement programs that screen and distinguish nursing facility applicants and residents with chronic mental illnesses (Shea & Russo, 2001).

The purpose of this curriculum is to enhance the appropriate education for Hispanic caregivers on the lack of quality care and the services that are provided for individual that are diagnosed with a mental health illness. Hispanic caregivers engage in a major part of these individuals by supporting, helping, and encouraging them to move forward in life. However, due to the deficiency of understanding the individual’s Mental health illness can also be a contributor to the process of acquiring services. Additionally, the services need to also be relevant to their cultural background needs. Social workers within the Mental health system will provide this training to enhance Hispanic caregivers by giving them a better insight on, advocacy, support, and values toward mental health services.

Variation by age with regard to utilization of mental health services has been reported by SAMHSA using 2013 data. Among those aged 18-25, the percentage of mental health service utilization was the lowest compared to older age groups (12.2%), and those with SMI with an estimate of 54% used mental health services (SAMHSA, 2014b). In regards to treatment engagement, of those in the TAY age group with SMI, 46% were less likely to not receive mental health treatment or counseling, which was greater compared to older age groups. In 2013, for alcohol dependence or abuse 5.3% of the TAY population reported alcohol use treatment and 10.9% for illicit drug use treatment (SAMHSA, 2015). With the growing concern of treatment prevention and engagement for the TAY population it is important to unveil and understand the current evidence and value of ACT or ICM in the community for this population.

As was documented in the textbook, “the importance of providing different levels of services to a heterogeneous population has given rise to a continuum of clinical categories” (Shi & Singh, 2015, p391). The careful consideration of specialized care is often based on the specialty of the population for which the guardianship of a patient is needed to be provided. The assignment for this essay was to discuss health services for special populations. For this composition the author chose to discuss briefly geriatric population and the mental health populations, as well as the specialty care involved with these populations. These two populations are enormously in need of recognition; in both provided care and health care costs.