Shapiro Ephraim, Mekonent Shimrit, Tanami Noi
Department of Health Systems Management, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Apr;11(2):739-754. doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01557-x. Epub 2023 Mar 17.
As well as affecting physical health, COVID-19 can impact mental health. Despite this, Israelis may not be getting needed mental health care because of culture-related barriers such as stigma and lack of knowledge about mental health and appropriate care. This is especially likely among vulnerable populations, such as Ethiopian immigrants, yet the topic has been understudied. This study aimed to examine to what extent COVID-19-related mental health stressors and issues are found among Ethiopian-Israelis and the extent of stigma and mental health literacy among Ethiopian-Israelis during the COVID-19 period. It also examined differences between the 1.5th and 2nd generations and potential interventions to improve their mental health. Online surveys were filled out by a convenience sample of 225 Ethiopian-Israelis recruited from a variety of sources in the fall of 2020. Over 40% expressed greater mental distress since COVID-19 started. Stigma and lack of mental health-related knowledge were found among many in this population, serving as potentially important barriers to getting appropriate mental health care. For example, only 52% disagreed with the statement that people with mental illness should not be given any responsibility and only 66% felt confident they could identify having a mental health problem requiring treatment. Variations were found by types of stressors, stigma, and lack of knowledge, as well as by immigration generation, for at least some measures. COVID-19 can negatively impact mental health and appropriate mental health care utilization, especially for a racial/ethnic minority group of immigrants such as Ethiopian-Israelis. Interventions are needed, such as increased education about mental health from a variety of sources, which can help decrease stigma and improve mental health care utilization among this group, especially when appropriately tailored.
除了影响身体健康外，新冠病毒还会对心理健康产生影响。尽管如此，由于诸如污名化以及对心理健康和适当护理缺乏了解等与文化相关的障碍，以色列人可能无法获得所需的心理健康护理。在弱势群体中，如埃塞俄比亚移民，这种情况尤其可能发生，然而该主题一直未得到充分研究。本研究旨在调查在埃塞俄比亚裔以色列人中，与新冠病毒相关的心理健康压力源和问题的存在程度，以及在新冠疫情期间埃塞俄比亚裔以色列人当中的污名化程度和心理健康素养水平。研究还考察了第一代半和第二代之间的差异以及改善他们心理健康的潜在干预措施。2020年秋季，通过便利抽样从各种来源招募了225名埃塞俄比亚裔以色列人，他们填写了在线调查问卷。自新冠疫情开始以来，超过40%的人表示有更大的心理困扰。在这一群体中，许多人存在污名化现象且缺乏与心理健康相关的知识，这成为获得适当心理健康护理的潜在重要障碍。例如，只有52%的人不同意“患有精神疾病的人不应承担任何责任”这一说法，只有66%的人有信心能够识别自己存在需要治疗的心理健康问题。至少在一些指标上，发现了压力源类型、污名化和知识缺乏方面的差异，以及移民代际差异。新冠病毒会对心理健康和适当的心理健康护理利用产生负面影响，尤其是对于像埃塞俄比亚裔以色列人这样的移民种族/族裔少数群体。需要采取干预措施，比如从各种来源增加心理健康教育，这有助于减少污名化并提高该群体对心理健康护理的利用率，尤其是在进行适当调整时。
