Adaptation of the Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE) scale to the Brazilian social and cultural context

INTRODUCTION: A significant gap between the number of individuals who need mental health care and the ones who actually have access to it has been consistently demonstrated in studies conducted in different countries. Recognizing the barriers to care and their contributions to delaying or preventing access to mental health services is a key step to improve the management of mental health care. The Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE) scale is a 30-item self-report instrument conceived to evaluate obstacles to proper mental health care. The main constraint in the investigation of these barriers in Brazil is the lack of a reliable instrument to be used in the Brazilian social and cultural context. OBJECTIVE: To describe the translation and adaptation process of the BACE scale to the Brazilian social and cultural context. METHOD: The translation and adaptation process comprised the following steps: 1) translation from English to Brazilian Portuguese by two authors who are Brazilian Portuguese native speakers, one of whom is a psychiatrist; 2) evaluation, comparison and matching of the two preliminary versions by an expert committee; 3) back-translation to English by a sworn translator who is an English native speaker; 4) correction of the back-translated version by the authors of the original scale; 5) modifications and final adjustment of the Brazilian Portuguese version. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The processes of translation and adaptation described in this study were performed by the authors and resulted in the Brazilian version of a scale to evaluate barriers to access to mental health care.

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Mental health care during pregnancy and afterwards: women from some ethnic minority backgrounds face barriers to access

10.3310/alert_46005 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Ethnic Minority ◽

Barriers To Access

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Barriers to access to outpatient mental health care for refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland: the therapist’s view

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-020-02783-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nikolai Kiselev ◽

Naser Morina ◽

Matthis Schick ◽

Birgit Watzke ◽

Ulrich Schnyder ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Asylum Seekers ◽

Outpatient Mental Health ◽

Barriers To Access ◽

Refugees And Asylum Seekers

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New Directions in Mental Health Care Evaluation. By I. Marks, J. Connolly and M. Muijen, University of London Press, 1988. Pp. 58. Price not stated.

Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists ◽

10.1192/s0140078900020903 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 12 (7) ◽

pp. 300-301

Author(s):

David Goldberg

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

New Directions ◽

Health Care Evaluation ◽

Care Evaluation

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Veterans� Attitudes Toward Smartphone App Use for Mental Health Care: Qualitative Study of Rurality and Age Differences (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.10748 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Samantha L Connolly ◽

Christopher J Miller ◽

Christopher J Koenig ◽

Kara A Zamora ◽

Patricia B Wright ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Access To Care ◽

Mental Health Treatment ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Adjunctive Treatment ◽

Smartphone Apps ◽

Rural And Urban

BACKGROUND Mental health smartphone apps provide support, skills, and symptom tracking on demand and come at minimal to no additional cost to patients. Although the Department of Veterans Affairs has established itself as a national leader in the creation of mental health apps, veterans’ attitudes regarding the use of these innovations are largely unknown, particularly among rural and aging populations who may benefit from increased access to care. OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to examine veterans’ attitudes toward smartphone apps and to assess whether openness toward this technology varies by age or rurality. METHODS We conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with 66 veterans from rural and urban areas in Maine, Arkansas, and California. Eligible veterans aged 18 to 70 years had screened positive for postraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder, or major depressive disorder, but a history of mental health service utilization was not required. Interviews were digitally recorded, professionally transcribed, and coded by a research team using an established codebook. We then conducted a thematic analysis of segments pertaining to smartphone use, informed by existing theories of technology adoption. RESULTS Interviews revealed a marked division regarding openness to mental health smartphone apps, such that veterans either expressed strongly positive or negative views about their usage, with few participants sharing ambivalent or neutral opinions. Differences emerged between rural and urban veterans’ attitudes, with rural veterans tending to oppose app usage, describe smartphones as hard to navigate, and cite barriers such as financial limitations and connectivity issues, more so than urban populations. Moreover, rural veterans more often described smartphones as being opposed to their values. Differences did not emerge between younger and older (≥50) veterans regarding beliefs that apps could be effective or compatible with their culture and identity. However, compared with younger veterans, older veterans more often reported not owning a smartphone and described this technology as being difficult to use. CONCLUSIONS Openness toward the use of smartphone apps in mental health treatment may vary based on rurality, and further exploration of the barriers cited by rural veterans is needed to improve access to care. In addition, findings indicate that older patients may be more open to integrating technology into their mental health care than providers might assume, although such patients may have more trouble navigating these devices and may benefit from simplified app designs or smartphone training. Given the strong opinions expressed either for or against smartphone apps, our findings suggest that apps may not be an ideal adjunctive treatment for all patients, but it is important to identify those who are open to and may greatly benefit from this technology.

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New Directions in Mental Health Care Evaluation

Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists ◽

10.1192/pb.12.2.78 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 78-78

Author(s):

Isaac Marks ◽

Joseph Connolly ◽

Matthijs Muijen

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

Large Scale ◽

Scientific Data ◽

The Usa ◽

Health Care Evaluation ◽

Evaluative Research ◽

The Uk ◽

Care Evaluation

Mental health care evaluation is a priority area as mental health care services are changing rapidly, more than are most other medical services. Budgets are finite, and there is concern for value for money in meeting the needs of patients and families. A one-day workshop brought together leading figures in the USA and Europe to discuss how a unit and consortium might be established to give cohesion and catalyse evaluative research in this fragmented field in the UK. Sound scientific data are available which have not yet been widely disseminated or used in policy making. There are rich opportunities for cross-national projects. The USA has intriguing innovations in evaluative research in mental health, some on a large scale, and these are relevant to the UK.

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