Copeland Valire Carr, Butler James
School of Social Work, 2211 Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Soc Work Public Health. 2007;23(2-3):35-58. doi: 10.1080/19371910802148263.
Despite the prevalence of mental illness among African American women, only a limited number of them seek or accept help from mental health service delivery systems. An extensive review of the literature revealed that (1) racism and discrimination, (2) socioeconomic status, (3) stress and well being, and (4) housing and neighborhood conditions must be considered in an assessment of the mental health status of African American women. These factors negatively affect their mental health and should be addressed in eliminating disparities in access to and utilization of mental health services. We recommend a process by which mental health providers reconceptualize access to mental health services using a socio-cultural framework. The knowledge gained in this process will result in increased provider cultural competence. This developmental process would be facilitated by the use of a socio-cultural conceptual model for treatment engagement. The model takes into consideration the barriers to mental health treatment services that, in part, have to be eliminated by mental health providers in order to decrease disparities and enhance both access to and utilization of mental health services by African American women.
尽管非裔美国女性中精神疾病普遍存在，但只有少数人寻求或接受心理健康服务提供系统的帮助。对文献的广泛回顾显示，在评估非裔美国女性的心理健康状况时，必须考虑以下因素：（1）种族主义和歧视；（2）社会经济地位；（3）压力与幸福感；（4）住房和社区条件。这些因素对她们的心理健康产生负面影响，在消除心理健康服务获取和利用方面的差距时应予以解决。我们建议心理健康服务提供者采用社会文化框架重新构想心理健康服务的获取方式。在此过程中获得的知识将提高服务提供者的文化能力。使用社会文化概念模型促进治疗参与将推动这一发展过程。该模型考虑到心理健康治疗服务的障碍，心理健康服务提供者必须部分消除这些障碍，以减少差距，提高非裔美国女性获得和利用心理健康服务的机会。
