RES 861 assignments

Research Prospectus

Colorado Technical University

January 22, 2021

Abstract

The purpose of the qualitative study is to establish how the provision of mental health services as part of social entrepreneurship can benefit the nation with special emphasis placed on the state of Texas. Through understanding the mind of those in need of mental health services with special emphasis on the acceptance and rejection of mental health services it will be possible to come up with a business model that is attractive to those in need of the services. The target population will be residents of Texas. The study will be based on the qualitative methodology. The literature review section of the study will be divided into seven sections. The seven sections are mental health infrastructure, populations that accept mental health, populations that reject mental health, populations that have access to mental health, populations that do not have access to mental health, reasons for the rejection of mental health and the reasons for the use of mental health services.

[CTU Research Prospectus Template v2.0 August 2020]

Introduction

[Kohn et al. (2018) noted that in the United States (US), there is the existence of a gap between mental health patients that require treatment and those that successfully receive the treatment. Overall, there is a need to identify the social determinants of mental disorders, align them with its sustainable development goals, and identify potential mechanisms and targets for interventions (Lund, et al. 2018). Specifically, Lund et al., (2018) have expressed a need for further research on the reasons why people decide to utilize or reject mental health services.

This research study will examine the factors according to mental health providers that influence an individuals' decision to utilize or reject mental health services. The mental health providers will be asked for strategies to encourage patients to accept and to not reject treatment at the start of treatment and when continuing treatment. This research is needed to systematically review evidence regarding the potential mechanisms that cause people to utilize or reject mental health treatment. By so doing it will be possible to develop a business model that is based on the offering of mental health services. Such a business will not only generate income considering that there is a high rise in mental health complications but it will help in addressing the social issue of mental illnesses. The research hopes to confirm the viability of a business tied around mental health provision as a social entrepreneurship.

There is a need for the research at several levels. The reasons why people choose to utilize or reject treatment lead to a treatment gap. According to Kohn, et al. (2018), there is a gap in mental health treatment in America when examined through the prevalence of mental health disorders and the lack of use of mental health services. For example, while 42.6% of children and adolescents in the US suffered mental illness, the treatment gap in this group was 64%. The use or rejection of mental health services depends upon the collaborative nature of participating in treatment; the patient and the provider work together to make the therapy worthwhile.

Mental health is a national problem as well. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Justice, millions of people suffer from mental illness in this country. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (2019), 47.6 million people in the U.S. experienced signs of a mental illness in 2018. This amounts to one in every five adults. Roughly 11.4 million Adults between the ages of 25 and 35 had an episode of serious mental illness that same year.

In 2016, 7.7 million young people between the ages of 6 and 17 experienced some sort of mental health disorder, while 9.2 million people were reported to have experienced a substance use disorder (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2019). The high numbers necessitate raising public awareness and campaigning for a better health care system (Hamilton.et al. 2016). Through the development of a business model targeting those in need of mental health services, it will be possible to not only generate income for the services rendered but it will be possible for a social issue to be addressed.

Problem Statement

Study Purpose

The purpose of the qualitative study is to provide a solution for the problem that it is not known how mental health providers describe the factors influencing individual decisions to utilize or reject mental health services. The study will be conducted through the phenomenological approach focusing on interviews with stakeholders in the mental health industry. 15 individuals in Southern Texas that are aware that they need mental health services will be interviewed on the reasons that either contribute to their willingness to seek mental health services. 32 mental health providers in Southern Texas will be interviewed on the factors that contribute to the willingness of those in need of mental health services to seek the services. The data collected will be analyzed through thematic analysis. Through understanding the mind of those in need of mental health services with special emphasis on the acceptance and rejection of mental health services it will be possible to come up with a business model that is attractive to those in need of the services. The target population will be residents of Texas. Texas has been identified to have a relatively high number of people in need of mental health services. By understanding what drives people to seek mental health services, it will be possible for one to identify the best strategies to ensure that the proposed business meet its goal of money generation and solving a social issue. Comment by Dawn Howell: Delete. Then add in the word help Comment by Dawn Howell: Delete the s and the words describe the Comment by Dawn Howell: Add in the words better understand the factors Comment by Dawn Howell: delete Comment by Dawn Howell: delete. You sample will need to be metal health service agency leadership. Comment by Dawn Howell: delete Comment by Dawn Howell: delete one and add in mental health agency leadership

Research Question

The following research question will help to guide this qualitative study:

What is the relationship between mental health providers and those in need of mental health services as far as seeking mental health is concerned? Comment by Dawn Howell: This questions needs to be something like What factors do mental health organization leadership see as the primary factors influencing an individuals’ decision to utilize or reject mental health services.

Research Method Rationale

It is appropriate for answering the research questions that focus on the reasons that contribute to mental health patients to accept or reject treatment because it provides primary verbal data that is collected in detail. It is appropriate for addressing the problem statement which notes that there are factors that contribute to mental health patient’s decision whether to reject or accept treatment because of the effectiveness and flexibility in collecting information from the healthcare providers based on their experience.

The qualitative approach is very effective when a phenomenon has already being identified and defined. It is appropriate for this study because the phenomenon is clearly defined as the factors that mental health professionals identify as reasons people utilize or reject mental health services. The literature has determined the causes of the low utilization of mental health in South Texas to include limitations to accessing health care. It also identified other barriers to specialty mental health care utilization (Augsberger, Yeung, Dougher, &Hahm, 2015). What it has not defined are the reasons people use or reject mental health services.

Review of the Literature Plan

This literature review will address the issue that some populations openly seek out mental health services as they have identified that they are at high risk of mental illness. On the other hand, some populations reject mental health services regardless of whether they need it or not citing stigmatization and victimization (Sebastian & Richards, 2017). The need to understand the populations either accepting or rejecting mental health services stems out from the need to improve the mental health status of the nation.

The literature review seeks to reveal what is known as concerns the nation’s mental health. This literature review will address the topic of mental health services with special emphasis being placed on the availability of the service, the availability of infrastructure supporting the service and the perception of people towards the service. The review will analyze the populations that have readily accepted and are willing to seek mental health services as well as those that reject and are unwilling to seek mental health services. The review is based on the fact that not all people have embraced mental health services and on the fact that there is a gap in the delivery of mental health care services.

The chapter will be divided into seven sections. The seven sections are mental health infrastructure, populations that accept mental health, populations that reject mental health, populations that have access to mental health, populations that do not have access to mental health, reasons for the rejection of mental health and the reasons for the use of mental health services. All the sections will have three sub-sections. The subsections will include introduction of the section, themes in the section and synthesis of the sections.

The literature review in addition aims to compare the existing literature on mental health. The comparison is supposed to provide light on whether there are similar opinions and views on the subject. The comparison as well helps in the identification of the various divergent views on the subject matter. Seven sections organize this paper. The literature review is divided into seven sections so that to touch on all subjects that touches on mental health. The only subject that relates to mental health that is not touched on in the literature review is the treating of mental health. It is not touched on, as it is not the focus of the study. The first section is mental health infrastructure, and it focuses on the availability of mental health infrastructure in the nation. A review of literature in the section is based on the knowledge that mental health services infrastructures are not well distributed to offer assistance to those in need of mental health services.

The second section is a section that focuses on the reasons for lack of access to mental health. The need to review related literature is driven by the knowledge that there are individuals that need mental health; however, they choose not to get it. The third section analyzes the population that has easy access to mental health services. The fourth section deals with the populations that use mental health services. The fifth section focuses on the populations that reject mental health services. The sixth section focuses on the reasons for the use of mental health services. The review is on the need to understand why people seek or do not seek mental health services. The seventh section focuses on the reasons for the rejection of mental health services.

The literature will be conducted through a systematic review using the Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, Cuiden, Cochrane, google scholar, ISI, and PsycINFO databases. The review was conducted using key terms related to the sections of the study. To make the study as relevant as possible, only studies done and published in the last five years were reviewed.

The problem of mental health has evolved historically overtime. Mental health in the United States has declined in the last twenty years. He cites that suicide rates have increased twice fold from 1990. Furthermore, he cites that the substance abuse more so of opiates has become epidemic. The disability award for mental disorders has also increased dramatically, a possible indication of the nation’s mental health dwindling.

This study will focus on the gap in research regarding the reasons people utilize or reject mental health treatment. The problem is that it is not known how mental health providers describe the factors influencing individual decisions to utilize or reject mental health services. Without an understanding of what the reasons are for use or rejection, it is unlikely that successful interventions can occur that would enable more people to utilize mental health services in the state.

References

Augsberger, A., Yeung, A., Dougher, M., & Hahm, H. C. (2015). Factors influencing the underutilization of mental health services among Asian American women with a history of depression and suicide. BMC health services research, 15(1), 542. https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-015-1191-7