Health Disparities and Access to Services-Mental Health
The United States is a culturally, racially, and ethnically
diverse country. In the 2010 U.S. Census, more than
one-third of the U.S. population reported their race
and ethnicity as something other than non-Hispanic
White alone (i.e., minority). This group increased from
86.9 million to 111.9 million between 2000 and
2010, representing a growth of 29 percent during
the decades- Data from the 1990, 2000, and
2010 U.S. Census reveal that the population of
Hispanic and Asian children grew by 5.5 million.
During the previous 10 years, the greatest growth
in number was those children and youth who
are multiracial. Sim Harly, there is great diversity
in religious affiliations. The U.S. population,
although mostly Christian (at 70.6 percent),
including Protestants, Catholics, and Jehovah's
Witnesses, also includes other religions (5.9
percent) such as judaism, Buddhism, Muslim,
and Hinduism." About 23 percent of the U.S.
population is not affiliated with any religion.
The United States is also a country of differences
within groups, such as income, age, sexual
orientation, and gender identity. Each cultural
group brings its own beliefs, traditions, and
practices to its understanding of mental health,
the role of treatment, type of treatment, role of
helper, and so forth. Cultural communities can
be a source of great strength and resiliency or
the origin of emotional distress. This diversity
can also lend itself to disparities in all types of
health care. Bias, stereotype, stigma, racism,
and discrimination may affect access to
appropriate and quality mental health services,
as well as difficulties in interactions between
mental health professionals and children,
youth, and their families. (See box to the right
for examples of mental health disparities).
African Americans are more likely to
disorder than Whites;
treatment; and, when
they do seek treatment, are more likely to
use the emergency room for mental health
care; and more likely than Whites to receive
inpatient care.
The United Asian American/Pacific Islanders are 25
percent as likely as Whites and 50 percent
likely as African Americans and Hispanics to
seek outpatient and they are less likely
than Whites to receive inpatient care. When
they do seek care, they are more likely. to be
misdiagnosed as problem free. American
Indians/Alaska Natives appear to
suffer disproportionately from depression
and substance abuse and are overly
represented in care compared
with non-Indians and non-Natives, with the
exception psychiatric hospitals.
Youth in grades 7-12 who identify as
Gay or bisexual were more than
likely to have attempted suicide
than their heterosexual peers.
Racial and ethnic minorities bear a greater
burden of unmet health needs and thus suffer
a greater loss to their overall health and
productivity than their White counterparts. For
example, researcher l. T. Gibbs said, "African
American youth are more likely than White
youth to be identified through the juvenile
justice system, they are less likely to undergo a
thorough psychological assessment, less likely
to receive a psychiatric diagnosis, less likely to
obtain therapeutic treatment, and more likely to
experience long-term psychological impairments and
behavioral and social deficits and dysfunctions."