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Community Mental Health Service Use - A Critical Analysis Introduction Historically, health sector is an important social service sector in Canada and it is publicly funded. However, studies shows that the standard of utilization of health system especially community mental health services are varied in each province (Tiwari, & JianLi, 2008). There are many factors associated with the use of community mental health system among various ethnic immigrant groups. In Canada, non-European immigrants tend to under utilize the community mental health services due to various factors (Whitley, Kirmayer, & Groleau, 2006) From my experience as a community development worker in India, I encountered numerous challenges to link people those who are facing mental health issues to the health service system. This paper explains my experiences as an outreach health support worker in the context of Canadian and Indian social work; also I intend to articulate the acquisition of my new learning about Canadian social work practice. I argue that socio-cultural, economical and geographical factors are influencing the use of community mental health services (Whitley et al., 2006). An anti-oppressive social work practice can influence perception of the people about community mental health services in Canada (Larson, 2008). This research paper illustrates …show more content…
India is a multicultural traditional society and the population is predominantly rural (Khandelwal, Jhinga, Ramesh, Gupta, & Srivastava, 2004). Compare to other similar countries, India is having a strong primary health care service system. Mental health service in India is a part of general health service. Community mental health in India is a three tier service sector consists of public, private and nonprofits (Padmavati,
The adult mental health social work may be considered complex and challenging due to the issues it faces. The practice entails the involvement of a certain number of professionals which have the authority to make an immense impact on the service users’ lives. The association with the social services may initiate within the service users a certain amount of discomfort and vulnerability. This may be because it could carry with it a certain degree of unwarranted labelling and prejudice. Apart from the impact that the involvement of the social services have on the service users, it is worth noting that there are further challenges which may be encountered, and they do not only arise from the complexity of the service users’ situation alone, they may also stem from the social worker’s capacity and experience to practice, laws, policies, funding and other factors that cannot always be controlled. The social workers have many tools to help and support the service users, however, been entrusted with authority as well as an element of power to make decisions through their assessments, they are also expected to practice responsibly because of the immense impact their evaluations have on people’s lives. These together with the legal accountability and the professionally required, ethical and moral congruence may be a fertile ground for conflict of interests. For example, a discrepancy between the views of the social worker and the service user regarding needs of services.
It is important to include cultural issues in the helping process to be more effective. We also need cultural competence because the U.S. is becoming more diverse. Therefore with diversity comes different beliefs, norms, and values. Eurocentric values dominate sciences and began cultural universals which puts the clash of dominate and non-dominate cultural behaviors in motion. In 1996 the NASW Code of Ethics increased the recognition of cultural competence. It is important to know diversity exist within ethnic and cultural groups because social workers need to know that relationships between helping professionals and clients may be strained. This happens because of the distrust between groups. Another important aspect is that the professional realizes their own values, biases, and beliefs. The reason for this is because they must value diversity to start with and understand the dynamics of difference. Culturally competent practitioners have to go through developmental process of using their own culture as a starting point to meet all behaviors. Striving for cultural competence is a long term process of development. The literature on cultural competence is theoretical and conceptual. They have not been evaluated in a systematic way. Roughly there are 2 million Native americans in the U.S. Which survive decimating disease, over-repressed in child welfare system, suffer from health problems, and are among the poorest people in the United States. Working with them clearly falls within the social work clearly mandate to serve vulnerable and oppressed clients. However, we do not know how many people from this group is actually receiving help from social workers. Even though it is important to train social workers to provide care in th...
Furthermore, over the last 20 years, a number of studies have demonstrated the importance of culture to the health and health care of Aboriginal people. The limited understanding of Aboriginal cultures by some biomedical health care professionals can result in health conditions going unrecognized, or errors occurring in diagnosis and treatment. A study based on a comparative analysis of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal hospital psychiatric admissions in North western Ontario suggested that some Aboriginal people admitted for
In Canada, access to health care is ‘universal’ to its citizens under the Canadian Health Care Act and this system is considered to the one of the best in the world (Laurel & Richard, 2002). Access to health care is assumed on the strong social value of equality and is defined as the distribution of services to all those in need and for the common good and health of all residents (Fierlbeck, 2011). Equitable access to health care does not mean that all citizens are subjected to receive the same number of services but rather that wherever the service is provided it is based on need. Therefore, not all Canadians have equal access to health services. The Aboriginal peoples in Canada in particular are a population that is overlooked and underserved
Definition: Mental health has become a pressing issue in Indigenous communities. Often, a combination of trauma, a lack of accessible health resources, substance abuse, violence, and socioeconomic situations lead to high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in Indigenous Peoples. This crisis is especially apparent in Indigenous youth, where there is a growing suicide epidemic but little mental health support and resources are provided. The increase in stigmatized and untreated mental illness has continued as trauma and systemic injustices remain unaddressed. Indigenous groups, governmental parties, and health organizations are involved.
Health care inequities can be elucidated by the research that identifies the social, economic and political ideologies that reflect aspects of cultural safety (Crandon, 1986; O’Neil, 1989 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). There are various factors that affect the mistreatment of aboriginal peoples as they access health care in local health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics. Aboriginal women face many barriers and are discriminated against as a result based on their visible minority status such as race, gender and class (Gerber, 1990; Dion Stout, 1996; Voyageur, 1996 as cited in Browne & Fiske, 2001). A study done on Aboriginal peoples in Northern B.C. showed high rates of unemployment, underemployment and dependency on social welfare monies (Browne & Fiske, 2001). This continued political economic marginalisation of aboriginal peoples widens the gap between the colonizers and the colonized. The existence of racial profiling of aboriginal peoples by “Indian status” often fuels more stigmatization of these people because other Canadians who do not see the benefits of compensations received with having this status often can be resentful in what they may perceive is another compensation to aboriginal peoples. The re...
YURKOVICH, E.E. and LATTERGRASS, I. (2008) Defining Health and Unhealthiness: Perceptions held by Native American-Indians with Persistent Mental Illness Mental Health, Religion and Culture [online]. 11(5), pp. 437-459 [Accessed 10 January 2011] Available at:
On May 25th 2016 I officially started an internship with Montgomery County’s Department of Mental Hygiene. The department consists of one hard working woman named Sara Borenko who was my supervisor and boss throughout this internship. One of the main duties of Sara’s job is the funding of community programs that are aimed towards helping the mental health community. In fall 2015 I took a class called Community Psychology and while working at this internship; I applied what I had learned from that class and used it to my advantage. Some of the lessons I applied included social oppression, community organizing, stress and coping, and emotional support. Before taking this internship, I didn’t realize how much my county had to offer as for services. I’m inspired by the community and its strides towards helping the mentally ill. I’ve learned a lot during this internship. I’ve gained experience in the field, I’ve grown a broader
Guerin, B. & Guerin, P. 2012, 'Re-thinking mental health for indigenous Australian communities: communities as context for mental health', Community Development Journal, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 555-70.
Yellow Bird, M., Chenault, V., (1999). The Role of Social Work in Advancing the Practice of Indigenous Education: Obstacles and Promices in Empowerment-Oriented Social Work Practice. In Next Steps: Research and Practice To Advance Indian Education (pp. 201-229)
Since the beginning of deinstitutionalization in the mid twentieth century, there has been a significant need for community mental health care, which was recognized after long term institutional care was considered ineffective. One concept that arose during the community mental health movement was case management. An important goal of the community mental health movement was to create full time mental health centers throughout the United States, and case management was to provide outpatient care to those who suffered from severe mental illness. Case management is still widely recognized today, and continues to be effective in providing care to clients who suffer from mental illness. Case management is a fundamental solution to the advocacy, recruitment, treatment, and care of both the disadvantaged and mentally disabled individuals.
According to the World Health Organization, the relationship between mental health and poverty is particularly important: the poor and the deprived have a higher prevalence of disorders, including substance abuse. Society does not take well to poverty especially to individuals living in poverty that have a mental illness. In some instances, mental illness can be a cause for individuals living in poverty. When individuals cannot afford health insurance how are they going to afford medication for the
The societal issue that I have selected is that of community inclusion for those people suffering with mental health issue and their ability to successfully integrate into the community, after years of institutional living. Two cornerstone of community building is movement beyond problem solving toward changing conditions, and the people affected should play a major part in improving the conditions (Homan, 2011). For those who are affected by mental illness, it is key that they are given resources necessary to live and thrive in their new environment.
The large number of uninsured children and limitations to behavioral health care coverage are problems that public policy in the United States have attempted to fix because “traditionally, insurers and employers have covered treatment for mental health conditions differently than treatment for physical conditions” (Goodell, 2014). There is a major shortage of health care professionals around the world, not just in countries like India that Patel mentions in his speech, and since the majority of mental health care professionals are in urban, high-income areas “the lack of mental health care providers in rural areas as well as in pediatrics has been well documented” (Goodell, 2014). One advantage to this all-involved health care is that there will be more access to those who are in rural areas, minorities, or children with disabilities. These are the groups that fall into the gap between the need for health care and the actual providing of effective care that go into practice in the community (MacKinnon-Lewis, 2016). Another advantage is that those who fall into this gap could experience less stigma if there are people in the community actively doing something to provide effective
Samarasekara, N., Davies, M. L. M., & Siribaddana, S. (2012). The stigma of mental illness in Sri Lanka: the perspectives of community mental health workers. Stigma Research and Action, 2(2). doi:10.5463/sra.v1i3.48.