Approaches to increasing access and quality of mental health services for African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos

The health care system continues to provide disproportionate mental health care to minorities who seem disengaged from or over represented in mental health services.

Statistics on San Bernardino County indicate that the county's population consists of approximately 50% Latinos, 10% African Americans, and 7% Asian Americans. While African Americans account for 28% of consumers of mental health services in San Bernardino County, only 28% are Latinos and only 2% are Asian Americans, with Vietnamese as one of the prominent Asian subgroups. To explain underutilization and overutilization of mental health services, this study compares the patterns of mental health services use and barriers in accessing mental health care unique to these three minorities.

Researchers and community members conducted a total of 24 focus groups (in English, Spanish, & Vietnamese) and 250 surveys of consumers and non-consumers (community members) within the population of San Bernardino, CA.

Findings show that each minority group experiences unique cultural barriers in accessing mental health services. Latino participants felt less likely to seek mental health services because their faith provided an effective coping mechanism. In contrast to Latinos, African American's religiosity was not a reported barrier to mental health services. For Latino and Vietnamese communities, mental health was a more difficult topic to discuss.

There is a need for culturally competent approaches involving the community to increase the quality and access to mental health services for specific cultural groups. Communities need to participate in identifying, assessing, and solving mental health issues using existing tools and cultural enablers.