Fear and Access to Mental Health Support for Underserved Groups

Introduction

Mental health treatment is, in a certain regard, a widely accepted sector of the healthcare community. However, in spite of continued advances in this field, many demographics still present a heightened and unmet need for mental health support. The review here, which assesses two recent newspaper articles on the subject of mental health, reports on the need for an expansion and refinement of the responsibilities assumed by the mental health community.

Barriers Facing Latino Communities: Article Summary 1

A 2012 article by Cynthia H. Craft, published in The Sacramento Bee and entitled "U.S. Mental Health Programs Little Help to Latinos, UC Davis Study Says," evaluates the relative experience of disenfranchisement from mental health treatment and counseling among Latinos living in the United States. The article examines the various cultural, economic, and sociological reasons for this population's detachment from opportunities for psychological support. It is clear that a number of obstacles persist which can prevent members of this demographic from ever seeking — let alone receiving — the support they need.

According to the article, the United States mental health support system itself is ill-equipped to reach out to and effectively serve Latino clients. Craft attributes this to a lack of sufficient resources for cultural and linguistic engagement and indicates that many steps must be taken to redress the absence of such resources. The UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities released a study revealing that an enormous gap existed between this population's mental health needs and the treatment opportunities available to it. On this point, according to Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, the study's lead author and director of the health disparities center, "up to 75 percent of Latinos who do seek mental health services opt not to return for a second appointment. Cultural, social and language barriers are too high to surmount. The report, based on input from more than 550 Latinos, including some in Sacramento, found that the current workforce of psychologists and psychiatrists is ill-equipped to penetrate the disparities and bridge the cultural gulf" (Craft, p. 1).

This issue is further compounded by the fact that many Latinos are unwilling to take the steps to find treatment when the need presents itself. This can be attributed to a combination of cultural factors discouraging admission of mental health problems and to the contested legal status of many Latino immigrants in the United States. This latter factor may be a significant deterrent to many who might otherwise initiate contact with the mental health community.

Integrating Mental and Primary Healthcare: Article Summary 2

A 2012 article by J.R. Ortega, published in the Victoria Advocate and entitled "Behavioral Health Expert Talks Future of Mental, Primary Health Care," draws the connection between primary healthcare and mental healthcare. The article indicates that the two dimensions of human health are inextricable and that, as a result, the degree to which we effectively treat mental health in the population will have a direct bearing on the physical health of that population. Ortega's article centers specifically on the rising proportion of elderly Americans and the burden this is increasingly placing on the public healthcare system.

Ortega asserts that the interconnectivity between primary and mental health tends to intensify as one ages. As a result, the growing proportion of elderly people in the population points to the need for a more encompassing and integrated identification of mental healthcare needs. According to Ortega, scholarly research has "placed focus on how both mental and primary health is directly linked. For example, depression leads to cortisol, which can later lead to a heart attack. David Way, associate director with Gulf Bend Center, agreed with Manderscheid, noting poor mental health can lead to health issues such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure" (Ortega, p. 1).

This serves as the basic imperative for the idea asserted in Ortega's article, which calls for a high level of integration between primary and mental care. Ortega refers to this ambition as an agenda toward "wellness" — a notion that expands Western thinking on individual health to include mental, emotional, and psychological conditions in assessing one's general health outlook.

Conclusion

As the article reviews and synthesis conducted here demonstrate, while mental healthcare has gained mainstream acceptance, many demographic subsets remain resistant to seeking treatment. By creating a more culturally and linguistically diverse mental healthcare community — and by integrating this community with mainstream medical care outlets and points of access — it is possible to reduce the fear that often prevents those in need from seeking critical support services.