Mental Health Provision For Latino And Rural Populations

“Despite many calls for change, mental health care continues to be separate from the rest of health care. Difficulties in accessing mental health care have become a “de facto” in the US. Although screening for mental illness in primary care has increased in recent years, subsequent treatment remains inadequate and referral for specialty treatment continues to suffer from long delays. In the National Comorbidity Study, only 21.7% of individuals with major depressive disorder received adequate treatment (Grembowski, 2002).”

In our current society, many believe that barriers to mental health treatments are “limited availability and affordability of mental health care services, insufficient mental health care policies, lack of education about mental illness, and stigma” (Unite for Site, 2000-2013). If those barriers exist for

Mental illness is a major burden on society that is not given enough attention or resources, especially in the United States. The continued neglect of these needs concerning related conditions dates back to the beginning of history, while diagnoses and the need for adequate care have only continued to rise. These inequalities in the United States mental health care system create enormous ethical challenges for these individuals in receiving health care. “In 2007 about 11% of adults (23.7 million) in the United States experienced serious psychological distress, such as anxiety and mood disorders, that resulted in functional impairment that impeded one or more major life activities” (Sundararaman, 2009,

In today’s society there is a greater awareness of mental illnesses. With this greater awareness one might assume that there would be a substantial increase in government involvement or funding in the area of mental illness treatment. Unfortunately this isn’t the case in the U.S. today. There are hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness that go untreated. These potential patients go untreated for many reasons. These reasons are discussed in the Time article “Mental Health Reform: What Would it Really Take.

A comparison of several studies are reviewed and have identified that variables such as: socio-economic status, cultural values, language proficiency, and discrepancies in mental health service utilization are barriers that the Latino community encounter in pursuing mental health services (Hong, Zhang, & Walton, 2014; Keyes, Blanco, Martins, Bates, Hatzenbuehler, & Hasin, 2012; Rastogi, Massey-Hastings, & Wieling, 2012; Polo, Alegria, & Sirkin, 2012; Shobe, Coffman, & Dmochwski, 2009; Sentell, Shumway, & Snowden, 2007). Via this literature review each variable will be examined.

Addressing inadequately served mental health needs is a multifactorial issue related to inadequate social understanding of the problem, funding, supply of providers, and integration of services. There is no one solution to the problem, and the recommendations here will focus on addressing several of these important aspects of the mental health issue.

Mental illness has similar and equally detrimental symptoms to physical illness. It touches the lives of everyone, whether you are affected by it personally, or have a friend and/or family member suffering from one. Approximately one in five adults suffers from a mental disorder each year (NAMI, 2016). Unfortunately, no matter how real mental illness is, it has not shaken the stigma or gained the proper attention from the health care system and insurance companies it needs to be able to treat and prevent psychotic episodes. Often times, the communities idea of helping the issue is by removing the affected from society, or ignoring the problem altogether. For those afflicted with mental disorders, it has lead to discrimination, homelessness, and even suicide. As the United States seeks reform in the healthcare system, it is the perfect time to request more resources for mental health.

Mental health care in the United States is a growing problem and continues to be one. Not only is it very expensive, but many health care insurances don’t have mental health coverage or

A man freezes to death in the early hours of the day, a young woman overdoses in a alleyway, a vulnerable teenager struggles to find food. These stories all have something in common which fuels their suffering: an untreated mental illness. As time goes on, the number of people with mental disorders increases; consequently, the long-term effects are becoming more apparent. America is particularly notable for its lack of accessibility in comparison to other nations, despite studies showing the benefits otherwise. With the psychiatric industry itself to blame, a minute amount of people actually receive the treatment they badly need to live. Social detriment follows mental decline in a traceable pattern: untreated mental illness in society presents

Access to mental health care within the recent years have risen. Yet people looking for mental health care are not able to always find help. Many people are not able to find any help because many psychiatrists are unavailable to take on new patients, or have a wait list. The argument to someone having access to mental health care is there, but it is still not available to that individual. Although there seems to be access to mental health care, it is not available to everyone, and because of that, the United States government needs to provide affordable mental health facilities and social services, such as mental health screenings and psychiatrists at public buildings, such as hospitals, to allow a greater availability to mental health care in the United States.

1) Mental health treatment has seen substantial improvements within the developed world. However, mental health patients continue to experience difficulties receiving mental health care as opposed to physical health care. There are many barriers to receiving mental health services in the developed world even with the advances in technology and treatment seen in medical treatment. When compared with physical health care services, mental health services delivery continue to face issues (Andrade et al., 2014). The barriers to mental health services can be linked to issues of structure and issues related to the patients themselves. Many people do not seek treatment as they may not think they require treatment or believe that they are healthy. Others may seek assistance from a mental health professional and drop out after treatment had already been initiated. This may be due to lack of satisfaction with the quality of service provided. This increases the likelihood of dropping out of treatment (Andrade et al., 2014). Some people do not seek treatment for fears of social stigma and discrimination in the work place. They may become worried about being labeled mentally ill and be denied job opportunities (Andrade et al., 2014). For such reason, many people retrain from disclosing mental illness or treatment. Structural barriers speak to the person’s ability to pay for services and the availability of services. In some developed countries like the United States, a large proportion

Although reading this book has helped me to put perspective of my experiences in mental health I still have lingering questions. Such as: In a broad cultural perspective why is mental health disorders not categorized as a disability? And what will it take to change that culture perspective? Without violating informed consent, can America create policy that doesn’t require the extreme “must be proven dangerous to themselves or others” to be consider for evaluation and treatment? Should medication adherence be mandatory for the severely mentally ill to access federal and state

Access to mental health care is not as good as than other forms of medical services. Some Americans have reduced access to mental health care amenities because they are living in a countryside setting. Others cannot get to treatment for the reason of shortage of transportation or vast work and household tasks. In some areas, when a

Jonathan K. Burns (2009) emphasized the findings of a community survey that indicated that Americans do not have equal opportunity to receive proper mental health care treatment. (Burns, 2009) “A community survey in the US (a high-income country), for example, reported that low-income individuals cited financial barriers to accessing care. However, this was not the case in the Netherlands or in Canada, both HICs, where economic disparities and income inequality are lower. Also “ in the US, a house hold survey of adolescents found that those of low income status reported far more structural barriers to accessing mental health services than did their middle and high-income counterparts.” (Burns, 2009: 23) Victoria Ojeda and Sara Bergstress (2008) conducted a research study by administering surveys to measure the perceptions and attitudes of participants who indicated that they needed mental health care treatment and were not receiving it. 44.5% of participants indicated that finances were a barrier as to why they were not receiving mental health care treatment. (Ojeda, Bergstress, 2008) Charles Zastrow (2014) expressed that studies have shown that when one has a mental illness, they tend to face financial difficulties due to their illness as it “results in a lowered social status and decrease in earning power” (Zastrow: 2014: 159) Social class also dictates the quality of treatment the individual will receive as studies have

There is an economically, racially, and age diverse demographic of people that have been medically diagnosed and suffer from debilitating mental health disorders or conditions. The estimate of this population ranges in the millions, and doesn’t include the people that haven’t been diagnosed, don’t have access to medical care as a result of their economic status, lack knowledge of it’s existence, religious beliefs, or availability of effective resources.