July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. It's a critical time to help educate the public about how culture, race and background can impact mental health, including access to care for the veteran and military family communities.
The fact is anyone can experience mental health difficulties, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. However, our society, culture, values, background and identity can all affect how we experience and perceive mental health care, which may impact how effective mental health management is addressed.
Here are some important facts and statistics:
- According to U.S. Veteran Affairs, researchers who conducted various PTSD studies in ethnic minority Vietnam Veteran populations found that ethnic minority groups overall have a higher rate of PTSD than white veterans, especially Blacks and Latinx.
- Native and indigenous people, who serve in the military at higher rates than other groups, are disproportionately affected by mental health and substance use issues with severely limited access to support and services.
- According to studies, 1 in 5 Latinx experiences mental health challenges. Yet, they are one of the least likely to seek mental health treatment due to language fluency, cultural barriers and access to health coverage.
- Reports show that Asian Americans are three times less likely to seek mental health services than other Americans due to the stigma of how mental illness would reflect on their families and they face the most difficulty accessing care because of language barriers.
- There is an estimated one million lesbian, gay or bisexual veterans in the U.S., however the LGBTQ+ group is known to face increased health risks and unique challenges accessing care.
These facts are important because the disparities in accessing quality mental health care cannot and should not be ignored. Cultural stigma, socioeconomic factors, structural barriers, bias and discrimination may impact an individual's ability to access the quality care they deserve.
Cultural competence among mental health providers is essential in providing quality care. Conscious or unconscious bias or lack of cultural competence may result in misdiagnosis, inadequate treatment and mistrust. Cultural competence matters in mental health care, and if you don’t feel like you are able to connect with your current service provider, you have the right to discuss these issues with your provider or request a change to a new provider.
The Cohen Clinic at Easterseals takes our mission of providing high-quality behavioral health care very seriously. Not only are half our staff members veterans, but our clinicians complete regular cultural competency training to ensure they are providing the most fair, equitable and unbiased treatment possible to our veterans, active duty service members and military families.
If you are in need of services, please call our office to schedule an appointment at
240-847-7500
. We are here for you!
