TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of public health in addressing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health and mental illness
AU - Primm, Annelle B.
AU - Vasquez, Melba J.T.
AU - Mays, Robert A.
AU - Sammons-Posey, Doreleena
AU - McKnight-Eily, Lela R.
AU - Presley-Cantrell, Letitia R.
AU - McGuire, Lisa C.
AU - Chapman, Daniel P.
AU - Perry, Geraldine S.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Racial/ethnic minority populations are underserved in the American mental health care system. Disparity in treatment between whites and African Americans has increased substantially since the 1990s. Racial/ethnic minorities may be disproportionately affected by limited English proficiency, remote geographic settings, stigma, fragmented services, cost, comorbidity of mental illness and chronic diseases, cultural understanding of health care services, and incarceration. We present a model that illustrates how social determinants of health, interventions, and outcomes interact to affect mental health and mental illness. Public health approaches to these concerns include preventive strategies and federal agency collaborations that optimize the resilience of racial/ethnic minorities. We recommend strategies such as enhanced surveillance, research, evidence-based practice, and public policies that set standards for tracking and reducing disparities.
AB - Racial/ethnic minority populations are underserved in the American mental health care system. Disparity in treatment between whites and African Americans has increased substantially since the 1990s. Racial/ethnic minorities may be disproportionately affected by limited English proficiency, remote geographic settings, stigma, fragmented services, cost, comorbidity of mental illness and chronic diseases, cultural understanding of health care services, and incarceration. We present a model that illustrates how social determinants of health, interventions, and outcomes interact to affect mental health and mental illness. Public health approaches to these concerns include preventive strategies and federal agency collaborations that optimize the resilience of racial/ethnic minorities. We recommend strategies such as enhanced surveillance, research, evidence-based practice, and public policies that set standards for tracking and reducing disparities.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 20040235
AN - SCOPUS:77949312683
SN - 1545-1151
VL - 7
JO - Preventing Chronic Disease
JF - Preventing Chronic Disease
IS - 1
M1 - A20
ER -