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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Yona Lunsky, PhD, Dual Diagnosis Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, 1001 Queen Street West, Unit 4-4, Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada, (416) 535-8501, yona_lunsky@camh.net and Susan M. Havercamp, PhD, Center for Development and Learning, University of North Carolina, CB#7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities (MR/DD) are at increased risk for mental health problems. Women with MR/DD are at greater risk for mental health problems such as depression than men with MR/DD. However, there has been minimal research on this underserved group. These women have historically been excluded from women's mental health research and gender continues to be ignored in the MR/DD research arena. This session will present research findings based on structured interviews with 99 adults with mild MR/DD, men and women, depressed and non-depressed, with corroborative information from caregivers and chart reviews. Depressed women with MR/DD are more likely to have come from abusive situations, to be living alone sometimes in inadequate housing, to have poor social support from family members, to be unemployed, and to have psychiatric and medical health problems. These women should be targeted for future prevention efforts.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Mental Health, Underserved Populations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.