The Unequal Opportunity For Receive Treatment

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

According to the World Health Organization, mental illness will affect approximately 25% of people at some point in their life (“WHO Qualityrights”, n.d.). Despite that, the current mental health care system in the United States is inadequate. Many aspects of the system need improving, especially the barriers to service. In fact, approximately 20% of individuals are left without necessary treatment for their mental health disorder (“Mental Health”, 2016). Mentally ill individuals have difficulty accessing necessary mental health care services for various reasons; insurance, socioeconomic status, and mental health stigma can all function as barriers to treatment. Insurance discrimination can make it difficult for individuals to find treatment (Han, Call, Pintor, Alarcon-Espinoza, & Simon, 2015). Gaps in insurance coverage can also be a barrier, as they disrupt the long-term treatment process (Gulley, Rasch, & Chan 2011). Socioeconomic status has been found to negatively affect appointment scheduling (Kugelmass, 2016). Finally, stigma in our society can also stop people from seeking out treatment that they need (Bathje & Pryor, 2011). The mental health system in the United States is not capable of caring for the mentally ill, as insurance, socioeconomic status, and perceived stigma all act as barriers that prevent people from receiving the treatment they need.

Mental health in America is a stigmatized topic that affects nearly 20% of the population and around 1 in 4 people will be affected by a mental illness at some point in their life (World Health Organization, 2010). However, due to the stigma behind mental health, people often do not seek treatment. As for the homeless population, the rates are much higher, with 1 in 4 homeless individuals living with a severe mental illness (Jasinski, Wesely, Mustaine, & Wright, 2005). These people and this population struggles to receive adequate healthcare, but with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or better known as ObamaCare, there have been positive change made to help these individuals. However, the ACA is not perfect and there are

Mental illness is nondiscriminatory, can affect any person and transcends all social boundaries. As a result, the issues surrounding mental illness have become common discussion pints among policymakers dedicated or required to formulate solutions around providing the long-term care needed by many patients. Healthcare reforms and changes to the systems that provide services to those living with mental illness and funding for services to the facilities providing care have become major social issues (Goldman, Morrissey, Ridgley, Frank, Newman, & Kennedy, 1992). The reason for this is primarily how it can affect a market economy and how much of a burden diseases of the mind can be in a country such as the United States. According to the 1991 Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the World Health Organization mental health burden accounted for “more than 15% in a market economy such as the U.S.” (The Impact of Mental Illness on Society, 2001). The study also states that for individuals over the age of 5, varying forms of depression are the leading cause of disability. A more recent study indicates that mental illness in general is found in more than 26% of the United States adult population, of which 6% are severe and limit the patient’s ability to function (Martin, p. 163. 2007).

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

The legal issue in this case is disparate treatment based on an employee’s membership in a protected class, which, in this case, was based on the employee’s age. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals 40 years of age and older. Judy F. Jones, the plaintiff, who is over 40 and a member of a protected class, argues that she received disparate treatment as a result of her age. The district court decided to grant summary judgment in favor of Oklahoma City Public Schools (“OKC”), dismissing her case. However, the appeals court does not agree with this decision and reprimands and reverses the ruling to the district court to be further reviewed.

There are disparities among people with different amount of salary or paycheck, because of their lifestyle they are living and how to deal with their needs and health problems when emerge.

In its 2002 report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, IOM recognized that CHWs "offer promise as a community-based resource to increase racial and ethnic minorities' access to health care and to serve as a liaison between healthcare providers and the communities they serve." The report also asserts that CHWs are effective as, "a strategy for improving care delivery, implementing secondary prevention strategies, and enhancing risk reduction" and recommends integrating trained CHWs into multidisciplinary health care teams. In its 2010 report, A Population-Based Policy and Systems Change Approach to Prevent and Control Hypertension, the IOM recommends the CDC Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

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

Disparate Treatment is defined as discrimination in which “the employer simply treats some people less favorably than others because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” Disparate Impact is a policy that is intended to be neutral and non-discriminatory, but when used in practice it disproportionately affects members of a protected class.

American is diverse with people who speak different languages, and with people from different backgrounds, and countries. It important to embrace all cultures and provide a discrimination free workplace. The example provided in the case study highlights the issues of racial discrimination and equal employment opportunities with Hispanic workers. Pynes (2013) mentions the term disparate treatment. “Disparate treatment occurs when an employer treats an employee of a protected class differently from a non-protected class employee in a similar situation (Pynes, 2013, p. 84).”

The support and social ties within an individual’s social network have been shown to influence the decision to access mental health services (Anakwenze & Zuberi 2013; Copeland & Snyder 2011; Graves 2017). Segregation across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines in terms of place of residence, creates homogeneity in the social networks of individuals with low socioeconomic status. This places these individuals at a disadvantage, in that people with low socioeconomic status require more diverse social ties in order to achieve social mobility. These factors associated with poverty in return reinforce poor mental health and decrease the likelihood of seeking mental health services (Anakwenze & Zuberi 2013). Also, interviews with low-income African-American

The disparate treatment is defined as the process where the employer knowingly and intentionally discriminates against an employee whereby, it happens when the employer treats some of its employees better than others because of their race, religion, color, religion, sex and religion. Whether the employer will be found guilty or not depends on what motivated the decision of the employer, a mixed motive to discriminate, and there are situational factors that results in discrimination. The employee will launch a complaint, an investigation will begin, and if there are reasonable cause to believe discrimination has occurred citing the discriminatory laws which the employer violated can face huge penalties (lawsuits) once the plaintiff has proven their case that the employees actions were motivated by discriminatory intent. In disparate treatment cases the employer must prove nondiscriminatory reasons for the practices in question. They must demonstrate that the practices in question are job related and consistent with business necessity.

What is the difference between disparate impact and disparate treatment? Give an example of each and how it might play out in a police department.

There a correlation between Socioeconomic status and mental illness in low income and economic hardship erode health, raising the risk of impairment. Given this finding, many assume that income buys what it takes to protect and enhance health.