No Indiana county has enough mental-health professionals to meet the local needs according to the Rural Health Information Hub. Add to that an overall mistrust of the healthcare system by many people of color, and there’s an unmet need that one Indianapolis nonprofit hopes to help fill.
Nonprofit community center Flanner House has opened a facility geared for the mental-health needs of Black Hoosiers.
Morningstar Afrocentric Wellness Center Director Bwana Clements said he and Flanner House Executive Director Brandon Cosby envisioned opening the center after seeing that young Black men seemed unresponsive to traditional therapeutic models.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we had an agency to prevent the challenges and difficulties of having to retell your story, over and over, to people who may or may not understand it?” Clements asked.
He said the center offers individual, couples and family counseling, as well as bereavement therapy for young people who have suffered a loss due to violence or trauma.
The American Psychiatric Association has found that, with Black patients, physicians are 23% more verbally dominant and engaged in 33% less patient-centered communication than with white patients.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration points to reasons why Black Americans and other minority groups don’t always seek help for mental health. There’s still a stigma around getting this type of care, but lack of access and insurance costs also are factors.
Clements said the center was intentionally designed for people to feel at home.
“There’s something about being able to walk into a space, seeing people that look like yourself, and knowing that they understand without you having to explain,” he added.
Clements said anyone is welcome at the Wellness Center, no matter their race or sexual orientation. The American Psychiatric Association says other common barriers to seeking help include concerns about privacy, lack of knowledge about available treatments, and denial of mental-health problems.
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More than 1 million Latinos call Georgia home but the growing community faces an alarming gap in finding and using mental health services.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness reported fewer Hispanic and Latino individuals seek help. It may be because of language barriers, poverty or just not feeling comfortable with cultural differences.
Belisa Urbina, executive director of the nonprofit Ser Familia, which offers social services to Spanish-speakers in the Metro Atlanta area, said fewer than 100 licensed mental health professionals in Georgia speak Spanish, which affects the quality of care even when interpreters are available.
“Most times, this interpreter changes from one appointment to the other,” Urbina explained. “And also, if you’re using an interpreter, then you’re not providing an hour of counseling. You’re providing maybe 30 minutes, at best.”
Urbina emphasized although some Latinos prefer English for daily communication, they may struggle to discuss specific incidents or emotions. She noted the pandemic only heightened the need for mental health support, with suicidal thoughts tripling among Latino children as young as eight.
Urbina pointed out one challenge is the cost of professional certification for mental health providers. She observed many people who receive the necessary education cannot get the credentials to practice due to a lengthy and expensive process. Ser Familia hopes to help make access easier by increasing the number of practitioners through other measures.
“We are establishing a project in which we hopefully are going to bring to Georgia students from universities in Puerto Rico that are ready to do hours,” Urbina outlined. “They can do their practicum here, and the hours are going to be counted in Puerto Rico.”
Urbina hopes in the future, it will be easier for people to get the credentials they need in the mental health field. But she added there is a lot of work to be done to improve health equity for minority populations, especially if they don’t speak English as their first language.
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Michigan women have mental-health concerns at rates higher than the national average, according to a new report.
The United Health Foundation reported that the number of women between ages 18 and 44 in Michigan who cite “frequent mental distress” jumped to more than 25% in 2021 from 18% just five years earlier.
Marnie Leavitt, executive director of the Women’s Center of Southeast Michigan, said social media and ease of access to information have led to an overall uptick in anxiety and depression – and a world in turmoil isn’t helping.
“People feel helpless and more aware of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the new war in the Middle East,” she said, “in which we have a great awareness that the primary victims of those conflicts are women and children.”
Leavitt added that concerns about climate change and their children’s education are other top contributors to mental distress for Michigan women. The report also ranked Michigan 44th among states for a high number of women with multiple chronic health conditions and 45th for illicit drug use.
Leavitt said women coming out of the pandemic have faced an unusual set of circumstances that can’t help but affect their mental health.
“Educated with high student loans, unable to get jobs,” she said. “Now, the job market has opened up. Despite the upticks in what people are making for salaries, in the Ann Arbor area, people are still almost unable to pay their rent.”
Dr. Lisa Saul, national medical director for maternal and child health at UnitedHealthcare, said mortality rates for women have increased about 40% between 2019 and 2021. Maternal mortality rates increased 29% in that time period. She said it’s important to acknowledge the racial disparities in these figures and address them to keep people healthy before, during and after pregnancy.
“For both maternal mortality as well as for severe maternal morbidity,” she said, “we’re seeing increases in the American Indian and Alaska Native populations that seems to be a new trend.”
The United Health Foundation report also contains some positive findings. Michigan ranks in the top 10 among states for women having health insurance, getting cervical-cancer screenings and exercising.
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Spanish-speaking Idahoans face a lack of mental health resources and advocates in the state want to change it.
Kurtis Pugh, mental health manager for the Community Council of Idaho, which serves migrant agricultural laborers and their families, said there is some stigma surrounding mental health issues in Spanish-speaking communities but often, people lack access to care.
“That’s where our biggest obstacles are,” Pugh explained. “There are very few Spanish speaking mental health professionals; competent Spanish speaking mental health professionals.”
Pugh pointed out access is especially difficult in rural communities, where there might be only one mental health professional, and they are not likely to speak Spanish. The Community Council of Idaho has partnered with the National Alliance of Mental Illness-Idaho to help provide resources and family support groups to migrant families in Spanish.
In November, the group will start a peer support group in Spanish.
Jorge Lopez, licensed professional counselor and board member of the National Alliance of Mental Illness-Idaho, uses a variety of methods for connecting with Spanish-speaking community members, such as talking about the shared experience of COVID.
Lopez also noted many families are immigrants from other countries, which produces its own form of trauma. Because he is from a similar community, he understands what they are going through.
“That feeling of being stuck, being lost, being alone; that is associated with mental health,” Lopez emphasized. “I kind of used the lived experiences as the bridge to kind of shed light on the fact that, ‘Hey, we all struggle with something maybe related to our mental health, our emotions.'”
Lopez added the most important aspect of expanding services to Spanish speakers is connecting with local groups already working in their communities.
“The whole point is to always learn the needs from the people themselves,” Lopez stressed. “And not assume what their needs are or assume what the solutions for what they need is.”
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