Introduction
Mental health has become a growing concern for many people globally, and various research has been carried out to identify and recommend suitable therapies. There are many challenges associated with the implementation of mental health services in many communities, like the Asian American society. Again, various issues come out when implementing the service to specific communities and may differ from one community to another.
Themes in Week five Handout
From week five handout, various themes can be noted. There is a theme of stigmatization; it happens when an individual negatively views another due to disturbing characteristics, which is believed to be a disadvantage. People with mental health conditions often face stigma, which involves a negative attitude. Stigma may result in discrimination; for instance, an individual can make a negative remark about a person’s mental condition or even therapy (Robinson, Turk, & Cella, 2019).
The stigma may also be unintentional as people may avoid the victim because they feel he is violent, dangerous, or unstable because of mental illness. Social stigma is a serious and create barriers that stop patients from seeking a psychiatric service. Stigmatization is a challenge that needs to be addressed, considering the importance of people’s psychological well-being. It makes people feel that they are likely to be alienated by friends after learning they are seeking such treatments.
Poverty is another issue preventing patients from accessing mental health services. Many Asian Americans and immigrants fear visiting psychiatrist because there are required fees that they may not raise. Financial difficulty is why many people, especially the poor, cannot receive quality mental health services and even the general healthcare services. The poor patients opt to meet their basic needs rather than going for the treatment (Ouedraogo, & Schimanski, 2018). Intervention is needed to address the problem and enable people to get the treatment regardless of their financial muscles.
There is a challenge of trusting the therapists hindering the information disclosure from the patients, which is vital in mental treatment. The Chinese are finding it difficult to trust and open up to the mental health professional. Most Asians have witnessed the treatments fail, especially from traditional Chinese herbalists. They have developed a feeling and opinion that seeking treatment is like guesswork, which may not work based on their previous experiences. A person seeking the cure for the first time, without previous bad experience with the treatment, is more likely to trust the care provider.
There is a barrier to passing the responsibility to other people by the caregivers, instead of attending the patients because of their unwillingness to trust and disclose information required for the treatment. This becomes a challenge as a problem that could be solved quickly by a certain professional has to be transferred to another person taking more time. Lack of appropriate skills and knowledge possess a significant impact on mental treatment. The caregivers must have the right competences required to offer quality psychiatric care. Skills and expertise can be improved through training and development programs. The caregivers struggle in their practice when they lack appropriate training.
Cultural differences impact the treatment as different people with varying backgrounds may have different interpretations of good and bad practices. Care providers perceive various therapeutic methods differently, and even the patients have preferred treatment procedures. The difference may affect the mental health service provision.
Recommendations
Recommendations would be that social workers should take the responsibility to educate people on various ways of avoiding stigmatization. It is good for people to understand the importance of seeking mental treatment. It is good to understand that stigma does not always come from other people, but within and sickness must never be viewed as a weakness but an issue that needs treatment. The patients must not isolate themselves; they should reach out to trusted friends for support and companion. Social workers should educate the population on the importance of joining support groups when they feel stigmatized. Public education on the need to avoid stigmatization will help many patients to seek medical services confidently.
Social workers should develop programs to help poor Asians and immigrants to be able to access mental illness care services without incurring high costs. The program may involve coming up with medical kids basically for taking care of the treatment bills, which will help the patients with financial difficulties get the treatment.
Collaboration with Research Stakeholders
I would collaborate with community members and service providers to carry out community education concerning the importance and effects of mental illness if untreated. With improved knowledge about the mental condition, they will easily interpret the data on the same. To make appropriate recommendations, we would carry out intensive analyses of the data to understand the real problem affecting mental care and then recommend it.
Culture Values
Various values and beliefs of my and other cultures, fairness, and respect for everyone might affect my interpretation of the data. The knowledge about other people’s perceptions of various situations would be resourceful in conducting a culturally sensitive stud
Reference
Ouedraogo, N. S., & Schimanski, C. (2018). Energy poverty in healthcare facilities: a “silent barrier” to improved healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of public health policy, 39(3), 358-371.
Robinson, P., Turk, D., Jilka, S., & Cella, M. (2019). Measuring attitudes towards mental health using social media: investigating stigma and trivialisation. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 54(1), 51-58.