July is National Minority Mental Awareness Health Month, first designated by Congress in 2008. This observance brings awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face regarding mental illness in the United States. Mental health issues are common, with one in five people in the US experiencing some type of mental illness. Mental health conditions are treatable, but not everyone has equal access to treatment that meets their needs. According to the Office of Minority Health, fewer than 40% of Black or Hispanic adults and only 25% of Asian adults received treatment for mental health in 2021, compared to 52% of White adults. People from minority communities can face barriers to treatment such as inadequate insurance coverage; difficulty finding professionals who understand their community, culture, or language; and stigma within their community around mental illness and treatments like therapy.
Achieving equity in mental health care will take much research to understand the current environment and identify barriers to treatment for mental illness in these communities and to develop interventions and other solutions so people can access the care they need to be healthy and fully participate in school, work, and community. These NIDILRR-funded studies are currently working in this space:
- Sociocultural Determinants of Recovery, Health, and Community Participation in Underserved Asian American Rehabilitation Populations. In this Switzer fellowship, researchers aim to assess and characterize cultural values, beliefs, and subjective experiences which underlie rehabilitation care related decision-making, and to relate these factors to the outcome indictors across different Asian American subgroups. This study focuses on people with severe disabilities and the rehabilitation care they receive, including behavioral and mental health. Findings from the study will determine the primary sociocultural factors that influence their decisions regarding treatment engagement, health outcome, and meaningful community participation. These findings may facilitate the establishment of guidelines for multicultural training for rehabilitation care providers, as well as guidance for future diversity-related research in disability and rehabilitation psychology.
- National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities. This Center includes a research project to adapt ParentingWell, an intervention for parents with psychiatric disabilities, particularly racial and ethnic minority parents. The center’s Community Blog regularly features the experiences of parents with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority groups seeking supportive, culturally appropriate care.
In addition to these, NIDILRR has funded three equity-focused rehabilitation research and training centers focused on community living, employment, and health. Each of these examine barriers to full participation of people with disabilities from underrepresented communities:
- The Community Living Equity Center (CLEC) examines how systemic racism, ableism, and xenophobia in the United States produce significant inequities for people with disabilities from racial and ethnic minority communities.
- The Advancing Health Equity for Adults with Disabilities from Diverse Communities Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (AHEAD-DC RRTC) is dedicated to enhancing the health and functioning of individuals with physical, cognitive, sensory, and developmental disabilities from marginalized and underserved communities.
- The Langston University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Advancing Employment Equity for Multiply Marginalized People with Disabilities empowers multiply marginalized people with disabilities as defined by race, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ status, poverty status, and rural locales to obtain competitive integrated employment and build stellar careers and entrepreneurial-driven wealth through linked culturally appropriate policy and service research, training, technical assistance and dissemination efforts.
Is your community recognizing National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month with events or programs? Share in the comments!