Hispanics, Mental Health, and the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide: Brief Report

2020 ◽  
pp. 154041532095148
Author(s):  
Francisco Brenes

Suicide is a public health concern in the United States, particularly among Hispanics. Research indicates a number of social factors negatively contribute to the problem, including stigma of psychiatric illness in the Hispanic culture. A paucity of research in this area exists, and if not addressed, then suicide rates could continue to increase among Hispanics. The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide could be used by clinicians and researchers to explore the phenomenon of suicide among Hispanics. Such research could potentially meet national suicide prevention goals and guide clinicians in creating culturally sensitive suicide outreach programs for at-risk Hispanics. Multicultural strategies aimed to serve minority, underserved, and vulnerable populations could also reduce mental health disparities. Recommendations for clinical practice, research, and health care policy are included in this report.

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-43
Author(s):  
Francisco Brenes ◽  
Federico Henriquez

Opioid addiction is a public health concern. Opioid overdose death rates account for one third to a half of all global substance-related deaths. Opioid mortality rates increased nearly fivefold in the United States between 1999 and 2016. Recent research has found health care disparities in the United States among minority populations with opioid use disorder, particularly Hispanics. Current literature also suggests that a number of social and cultural factors, including the stigma linked to mental illness and treatment in the Hispanic culture, may further negatively contribute to the problem. This brief report pays close attention to the opioid epidemic in the United States and addresses issues related to the crisis among Hispanics. Recommendations for clinical practice, research, and health care policy are also discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002580242199336
Author(s):  
Meron Wondemaghen

Ideological shifts in mental health-care policy such as deinstitutionalisation have meant police have had to make decisions about the care of persons with a mental-health crisis. This study examines how police in five English counties respond to crisis calls when employing the powers afforded in section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983, and the effectiveness of the national Street Triage pilot scheme. Qualitative interviews with 30 police officers and mental-health nurses (MHN) were collected as data sources. The analysis shows that police have previously struggled with the significant number of crisis calls, whilst also finding mental-health services inadequately sourced, leading to some detentions in police cells as alternatives to health-based places of safety. However, the scheme has made positive changes in alleviating these issues when MHN are co-located with police, highlighting the need to strengthen their partnership by facilitating the sharing of information, responsibilities and decision making in order to ensure police cells continue to be avoided as alternative places of safety.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 1051-1051
Author(s):  
STUDENT

The proportion of children in the United States without private or public health insurance increased from roughly 13 percent to 18 percent between 1977 and 1987, according to a new study by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). The growth in the proportion of uninsured children in poor and low-income families over the decade was even more dramatic—it rose from 21 percent to 31 percent.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lanford ◽  
Ray Block ◽  
Daniel Tope

AbstractRecent studies confirm that Anglxs’ racial attitudes can shape their opinions about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), particularly when this federal health care policy is linked to Barack Obama. Strong linkages made between Obama and the ACA cue Anglxs to apply their racialized feelings toward Obama to their health policy preferences. This is consistent with a growing body of research demonstrating that “racial priming” can have a powerful impact on Anglxs’ political opinions. Yet few studies have explored racialized policy opinion among minorities, and fewer still have explored racial priming among Latinxs. In this paper, we compare the effect of racial priming on the health policy preferences of Latinxs and Anglxs. Using survey evidence from the 2012 American National Election Study, we find important Anglx–Latinx differences in racialized policy preferences. However, we also find that racial priming has an effect on U.S.-born Latinxs that closely resembles its effect on Anglxs. Results suggest that increasing ethnic diversity in the United States will not necessarily produce increasingly liberal politics as many believe. American politics in the coming decades will depend largely on the ways in which Latinxs’ racial sympathies and resentments are mobilized.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarojini Naidoo ◽  
Steven Collings

Suicidality is a growing mental health problem, with statistics for South Africa being in line with global estimates. There has, however, been relatively little empirical advancement in the conceptualization of suicidal behaviour in recent years. Joiner’s interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behaviour is a relatively new theory that appears to hold promise for advancing our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie suicidal behaviour. The theory proposes that people die by suicide because they want to and because they can. This study sought to test two key hypotheses of the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behaviour using a cross-sectional design and a sample of 239 mental health outpatients. Consistent with theoretical predictions, levels of suicidal ideation were significantly predicted by the interactive effects of high levels of thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness in the presence of high levels of hopelessness in relation to both of these distressing states; with estimates of risk for suicide being most strongly predicted by the interactive effects of suicide ideation and an acquired capability for suicide. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, practice, and future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 133-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Brenes

A global health crisis exists surrounding suicide. In the United States, suicide rates have increased by nearly 30% in most states since 1999. Although the suicide rate among Hispanic Americans is significantly lower than non-Hispanic Whites, reasons for the lower rate are unclear. Current literature suggests that the lower rate may be due to underreporting, a lack of suicide screening and a number of complex social issues, including the stigma surrounding suicide in Hispanic culture. Health care provider attitudes toward suicidal individuals may also negatively affect mental health outcomes. This brief report focuses on suicide as a public health concern, addresses key issues arising from the phenomenon, and provides a perspective on health care providers’ attitudes toward suicide. Recommendations for future research, as well as implications for clinical practice and policy, are suggested.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Kaehne

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the practice, rhetoric and reality of integrating care. Echoing Le Grand's framework of motivation, agency and policy, it is argued that the stories the authors tell themselves why the authors embark on integration programmes differ from the reasons why managers commit to these programmes. This split between policy rhetoric and reality has implications for the way the authors investigate integration.Design/methodology/approachExamining current integration policy, practice and research, the paper adopts the critical framework articulated by Le Grand about the underlying assumptions of health care policy and practice.FindingsIt is argued that patient perspectives are speciously placed at the centre of integration policy but mask the existing organizational and managerial rationalities of integration. Making the patient the measure of all things integration would turn this agenda back on its feet.Originality/valueThe paper discusses the underlying assumptions of integration policy, practice and research. Increasing the awareness about the gap between what the authors do, why the authors do it and the stories the authors tell themselves about it injects a much needed amount of criticality into research and practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 1704-1710
Author(s):  
Jordan DeVylder ◽  
Lisa Fedina ◽  
Bruce Link

Police violence has increasingly been recognized as a public health concern in the United States, and accumulating evidence has shown police violence exposure to be linked to a broad range of health and mental health outcomes. These associations appear to extend beyond the typical associations between violence and mental health, and to be independent of the effects of co-occurring forms of trauma and violence exposure. However, there is no existing theoretical framework within which we may understand the unique contributions of police violence to mental health and illness. This article aims to identify potential factors that may distinguish police violence from other forms of violence and trauma exposure, and to explore the possibility that this unique combination of factors distinguishes police violence from related risk exposures. We identify 8 factors that may alter this relationship, including those that increase the likelihood of overall exposure, increase the psychological impact of police violence, and impede the possibility of coping or recovery from such exposures. On the basis of these factors, we propose a theoretical framework for the further study of police violence from a public mental health perspective.


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