Hispanics, Mental Health, and Discriminating Policies: Brief Report

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 178-180
Author(s):  
Francisco Brenes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Health Care Disparities ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical Disorders ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Immigrant Policies

Hispanics, the largest minority group in the United States, are a heterogeneous group that contains a large portion of immigrants from Latin America. Recently, anti-immigrant policies and anti-Hispanic discriminatory practices have heightened at state and national levels. These policies and practices serve to endanger the mental health of Hispanics and play a major role in health care disparities. Positive correlations have been found between chronic discrimination and depression as well as other comorbid conditions, such as anxiety and substance use, and physical disorders. This report provides an overview of the changes in law/policy in recent history that negatively affect the well-being of Hispanics. Recommendations for health care professionals, educators, and researchers are presented.

scholarly journals Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity of Students in a Physical Therapy Program – A Pilot Survey

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaide Oluwole-Sangoseni ◽  
Michelle Jenkins-Unterberg
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Health Care Disparities ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Significant Difference

Background: Attempts to address health and health care disparities in the United States have led to a renewed focus on the training of healthcare professionals including physical therapists. Current health care policies emphasize culturally competent care as a means of promoting equity in care delivery by health care professionals. Experts agree that cultural insensitivity has a negative association with health professionals’ ability to provide quality care. Objective: To evaluate the cultural awareness and sensitivity of physical therapy (PT) students in a didactic curriculum aimed to increase cultural awareness. Methods: Using the Multicultural Sensitivity Scale (MSS), a cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess cultural sensitivity among three groups of students, (N = 139) from a doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program at a liberal arts university in Saint Louis, MO. Results: Response rate was 76.3%. Participants (n=100) were students in first (DPT1, n=36), third (DPT3, n=36), and sixth (DPT6, n=28) year of the program. Mean ranked MSS score was DPT1 = 45.53, DPT3 = 46.60 DPT6 = 61.91. Kruskal-Wallis analysis of the mean ranked scores showed a significant difference among three groups, H = 6.05 (2, N=100), p ≤ .05. Discussion: Students who have completed the cultural awareness curriculum, and undergone clinical experiences rated themselves higher on the cultural sensitivity/awareness. Results provide initial evidence that experiential learning opportunities may help PT students to more effectively integrate knowledge from classroom activities designed to facilitate cultural competence.

scholarly journals Graduate Medical Education on the Frontlines during the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City- A Response to Promote Well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Graduate Medical Education ◽  
Health Program ◽  
Mental Health Program ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Graduate Medical

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has driven many health care institutions in the United States beyond their capacity. Physicians-in-training in graduate medical education programs have suffered the strain of providing patient care during this unprecedented time of crisis. The significant prevalence of pre-existing resident and fellow burnout and depression makes the need for action by institutions to support the well-being of residents and fellows even more urgent. We aim to describe innovative adaptations our Office of Graduate Medical Education implemented with the support of institutional leadership as responses to promote the well-being of residents and fellows on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME), in collaboration with the Office of Well-being and Resilience, developed a set of resources and interventions to support trainees during the pandemic based on four major categories: workplace culture, personal factors and health, mental health support, and workplace efficiency and function. Examination of the capacity of existing services and gaps that needed to be filled in the rapidly evolving early days of the COVID pandemic led to a robust growth in resources. For example, the already established Student and Trainee Mental Health program was able to expand and adapt its role to serve trainee needs more effectively. Results: We expanded resources to target trainee well-being across a broad array of domains within a short time frame. With investment in access to the Student and Trainee Mental Health program, utilization increased by 25.7%, with 1,231 more visits in 2020 compared to the number of visits in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The creation of Recharge Rooms had a positive impact on the well-being of health care workers. After a single fifteen-minute experience in the Recharge Room, an average 59.6% reduction in self-reported stress levels was noted by users. Other interventions were noted to be helpful in regular town hall meetings with trainees. Conclusion: Addressing trainee well-being is an essential aspect of a crisis response. The Mount Sinai Health System was able to care for the physical, mental, psychosocial, and safety needs of our trainees thanks to the collaborative effort of a pre-existing institutional well-being program and the GME Office. The ability to implement such a response was enabled by our well-being foundation, which allowed leadership at the highest institutional level and the Office of GME to provide support in response to this unprecedented crisis.

scholarly journals Psychological Distress Among the U.S. General Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christi J. Guerrini ◽  
Sophie C. Schneider ◽  
Andrew G. Guzick ◽  
Gifty N. Amos Nwankwo ◽  
Isabel Canfield ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthy Behaviors ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
Amazon's Mechanical Turk

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a significant global toll on emotional well-being, but evidence of mental health impacts in the United States remains limited. In April 2020, we conducted an exploratory survey of U.S. residents to understand prevalence of and factors associated with psychological distress during the pandemic. Data collection was conducted using Qualtrics, an online survey platform, and U.S. adult respondents were recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform. Among 1,366 respondents, 42% (n = 571) reported clinically significant anxiety and 38% (n = 519) reported clinically significant depression. Factors associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms included Hispanic/Latino ethnicity; younger age; lower income; employment as or living with a health care worker-first responder; caregiver status; SARS-CoV-2 infection status; decreased frequency of engagement in healthy behaviors; and changed frequency of engagement in unhealthy behaviors. That some of these factors are associated with elevated distress during the pandemic is not yet widely appreciated and might be useful in informing management of mental health care resources.

scholarly journals An integrative review on patient inflicted violence among mental health nurses

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Mohammed Hamdan Alshammari
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Workplace Violence ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Integrative Review ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Mental Health Nurses

Workplace violence can be in the form of aggression, harassment or simply physical infliction of harm towards nurses. It can arise from many sources but primarily they are patient inflicted violence in different forms. It can be a physical violence, emotional or a combination of both. Incidence of violence towards health care professionals is a recognized global public health issue. Previous studies have already suggested that health care professionals, particularly nurses, have a higher risk of experiencing workplace violence than other professionals. This integrative review looked into the violence where patients are the primary source, as well as the types and impact of violence amongst psychiatric mental health nurses happening worldwide. Further, it looked into the nurses’ road to recovery from the experience of violence and what hospitals and facilities are advocating in stopping these events or at least minimizing the frequency of such acts. Published studies considered in this review found that nurses’ experienced physical pain, fear, anxiety, frustration, distress, resentment, apathy, job dissatisfaction and anger following the violent incident. Nurses after their exposure to a series of violence from their patients’ experience dramatic changes in their well-being.

Cultural Competency, Culturally Tailored Care, and the Primary Care Setting: Possible Solutions to Reduce Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Kohn-Wood ◽  
Lisa Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Health Care Disparities ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Surgeon General ◽  
Unequal Treatment

Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are less likely to receive treatment for psychiatric disorders than are White Americans. For two decades, clinicians and researchers have worked to reduce health and health care disparities, with at best minimal success. In 2001 the Surgeon General issued a seminal report that described the magnitude of the problem (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). Nevertheless, the vexing problem of unequal treatment persists. This review provides preliminary evidence for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health treatment in primary care settings by giving priority to culturally competent practices and cultural tailoring in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.

scholarly journals On Conversion Talk in Indian Clinical Contexts: A Pilot Venture

2021 ◽  
pp. 263183182110301
Author(s):  
Aritra Chatterjee ◽  
Tilottama Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Case Vignettes ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Intersectoral Linkages ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Virtual Interactive

Conversion therapies are founded on the premises of altering one’s sexual orientation/gender identity to compulsory cis-heterosexuality. They target LGBTQIA+ individuals globally and negatively impact their psychosexual health and well-being. These therapies were not discredited explicitly in the Indian mental health context until 2020. In the current article, two case vignettes are sampled from self-identified transgender individuals who faced conversion efforts in various capacities, their families, and health care professionals being collateral stakeholders in the process. These case vignettes are shaped from first-person narrative accounts elicited from the participants in narrative inquiry format through virtual interactive sessions. The cases are critically discussed in the light of the present clinical-scientific consensus and future implications. The routes to more affirmative mental health ecosystems are explored through probable intersectoral linkages.

Depression Fotonovela

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leopoldo J. Cabassa
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Health Care Disparities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Limited Health Literacy ◽  
Latino Community ◽  
Limited Health ◽  
Mental Health Treatments

Latinos in the United States face serious mental health care disparities. A combination of person-level barriers, such as low levels of acculturation, stigma, negative attitudes towards mental health treatments, and limited health literacy, contribute to these inequities in mental health care. In this chapter, we review the literature on how person-level barriers impact mental health care disparities in the Latino community. We describe how a depression fotonovela, “Secret Feelings”, that integrates cultural elements from the Latino community and uses an entertainment-education approach can help address these barriers. We also discuss the practice and research implications of using “Secret Feelings” to improve mental health care in the Latino community.

A Review of Mental Health and Mental Health Care Disparities Research: 2011-2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 683-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Lê Cook ◽  
Sherry Shu-Yeu Hou ◽  
Su Yeon Lee-Tauler ◽  
Ana Maria Progovac ◽  
Frank Samson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Health Care Disparities ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
The United States ◽  
Culturally Adapted ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Racial/ethnic minorities in the United States are more likely than Whites to have severe and persistent mental disorders and less likely to access mental health care. This comprehensive review evaluates studies of mental health and mental health care disparities funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to provide a benchmark for the 2015 NIMH revised strategic plan. A total of 615 articles were categorized into five pathways underlying mental health care and three pathways underlying mental health disparities. Identified studies demonstrate that socioeconomic mechanisms and demographic moderators of disparities in mental health status and treatment are well described, as are treatment options that support diverse patient needs. In contrast, there is a need for studies that focus on community- and policy-level predictors of mental health care disparities, link discrimination- and trauma-induced neurobiological pathways to disparities in mental illness, assess the cost effectiveness of disparities reduction programs, and scale up culturally adapted interventions.

scholarly journals Psychological Services During the Pandemic and Isolation Period.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Services ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Population Mental Health ◽  
Isolation Period

During a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is common for everyone to experience increased levels of anxiety and worry, especially as a result of social isolation. Physicians and other front-line health care professionals are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of mental health, as they try to balance the task of caring for patients with concerns for their own well-being and that of their family and friends, but by not leaving aside the rest of the population. Mental health care and psychosocial well-being are just as important as physical health management. The effects of pandemics such as COVID-19 have highlighted the need for governments to take measures to curb not only the physical health of individuals but also their mental and psychosocial well-being. In this paper, we review the provision of psychological mental health services in Kosovo during the pandemic and after.

scholarly journals A Resilience-Building App to Support the Mental Health of Health Care Workers in the COVID-19 Era: Design Process, Distribution, and Evaluation (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eddye A Golden ◽  
Micol Zweig ◽  
Matteo Danieletto ◽  
Kyle Landell ◽  
Girish Nadkarni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Baseline Assessment ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Mount Sinai

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased strain on health care systems and negative psychological effects on health care workers. This is anticipated to result in long term negative mental health effects on the population, with health care workers (HCWs) representing a particularly vulnerable group. The scope of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates the development of a scalable mental health platform to provide services to large numbers of at risk or affected individuals. The Mount Sinai Health System in New York City was at the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. OBJECTIVE To address the current and anticipated psychological impact the pandemic has had on the HCWs in the health system, a Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth (CSRPG) was created. The mission of the Center is twofold; it aims to offer (1) resilience workshops and (2) mental health resources and institutional support to all employees. Our aim was to build a mobile application to support the newly founded Center in its mission. METHODS We built the app as a standalone intervention platform that hosts a suite of tools which users can interact with on a daily basis. With consideration for the Center’s aims, we determined the overall vision, initiatives, and goals for the Wellness Hub app, followed by specific milestone tasks and deliverables for development. We defined the app’s primary features based on the mental health assessment and needs of HCWs. Feature definition was informed by the results of a resilience survey widely distributed to Mount Sinai HCWs, and by the resources offered at CSRPG, including workshop content. RESULTS We launched our app over the course of 2 phases, the first phase being a “soft” launch and the second being a broader launch to all of Mount Sinai. Of the 231 health care workers who downloaded the app, 173 completed our baseline assessment of all mental health screeners in the app. Results from the baseline assessment show that more than half of users demonstrate a need for support in at least one psychological area. As of three months after the phase 2 launch, approximately 55% of users re-entered the app after their first opening to explore additional features, with an average of 4 app openings per person. CONCLUSIONS To address the mental health needs of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wellness Hub app was built and deployed throughout the Mount Sinai Health System. To our knowledge, this is the first resilience app of its kind. The Wellness Hub app is a promising proof of concept, with room to grow, for those who wish to build a secure mobile health app to support their employees, communities, or others in managing and improving mental and physical well-being. It is a novel tool offering mental health support broadly.

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