The Impact of Mental Health Stigmatizations on Minorities in Seeking Mental Health Care

The Impact of Mental Health Stigmatizations on Minorities in Seeking Mental Health Care

Governments and healthcare agencies across the globe are now heightening their responses to mental health illnesses, with the focus being on preventing suffering attributed to these illnesses. These enhanced responses have been necessitated by the growing prevalence of these disorders worldwide and the financial and health consequences of these illnesses to communities. With increased mobilization of mental healthcare resources and community awareness of these illnesses, significant progress has been made to lessen the impacts of these disorders. Notwithstanding, several barriers exist that retards the pursuit of elevating mental healthcare. Mental health stigma, financial restrictions, and lack of mental health providers have been documented as barriers to mental health. This paper details a plan for implementing the project on mental health stigmatization among ethnic minority groups. Do you need help with your assignment ? Feel free to contact us. Our team is ready to help.

Program Overview

Mental health stigma remains a barrier to mental healthcare. Subu et al. (2021) define mental health stigma as any form of disgrace, social disapproval, and negation of mental health illnesses. Mental health stigma is broad and may be in the form of public stigma, perceived stigma from the sufferers’ perspective, perceived stigma from healthcare providers’ perspective, family attitudes towards these illnesses, and employment stigma (Subu et al., 2021). Regardless of the form, mental health stigma harms persons with these illnesses. It also influences an individual’s healthcare-seeking behaviour and adoption of the available community resources valuable in the comprehensive management of these disorders. It is for these reasons that addressing mental health stigma is necessitated. Despite being a universal problem, variations exist in the societal perception of mental health illnesses. Saade et al. (2023) note that the barriers to mental health illnesses are considerably pronounced among ethnic minority groups. This is attributed, in part, to a lack of understanding of various mental health disorders, negative beliefs and attitudes towards these illnesses, and cultural perception of mental health disorders. This project details them.

Goals and Outcomes

The project interrogates the impact of mental health stigmatization on ethnic minority groups. The PICOT formatted question for the DNP project is: In ethnic minority groups (P), what is the impact of mental health stigmatization (I) compared to other barriers of mental healthcare (C) on health seeking and mental health (O) of individuals and the community in its entirety.

The first project goal is to identify the barriers to mental healthcare in ethnic minority groups. This will involve collecting data on the likely impediments to mental healthcare seeking across minority groups. Literature reviews will be an important source of information in this regard. Identifying barriers to mental health provides the groundwork for quality improvement in mental healthcare (Eylem et al., 2020). It gives insight into areas that can be improved to enhance the overall quality of mental healthcare. By accomplishing this goal, the project will have laid the groundwork for addressing quality concerns in mental healthcare and healthcare seeking among minority groups. This will help the organization identify areas to focus on when developing a quality improvement framework for mental health illnesses.

The second project goal is to improve the quality of mental healthcare by elucidating and addressing the impact of mental health stigma on ethnic minority groups. Mental health stigma has profound effects on individuals with mental health disorders. The overarching principle behind elucidating the impact of mental health stigma on patients with mental health illness is to reinforce the need for quality improvement in mental healthcare (Sayed et al., 2021). Literature will be reviewed that details the impact of mental health stigma on ethnic minorities. Upon accomplishing this goal, the organization will be willing to invest in quality improvement measures targeting to enhance awareness of mental health illness among ethnic minority groups.

Target Population

The target population for this DNP project is the ethnic minority groups. This project seeks to determine the impact of mental health stigma on health-seeking behaviour and overall mental health among ethnic minority groups. This group was chosen because of the apparent health disparities among ethnic minority groups. Javed et al. (2021) note that ethnic minority groups lag in several aspects of healthcare. Mental healthcare in this group is impacted by racial-ethnic factors such as cultural definition of disease, poor perception of mental health illnesses, misinformation, and lack of understanding of these illnesses.

Stakeholders

This DNP project draws several stakeholders in its execution. These include healthcare organizations, the university library, healthcare agencies, the government, and healthcare professionals. They will be involved in various stages of the program. The University Library and the library personnel play a vital role in this project’s development. This project will be carried out mostly at the library, as it will be based on available books and draw provisions from available research. In this respect, the library personnel will help locate relevant research articles that answer the PICOT question. They will also help in scrutinizing the articles to ascertain their suitability and credibility.

Subsequently, healthcare organizations, governments, healthcare professionals, and agencies will be valuable in the implementation phase. Upon completion, the provisions and recommendations of the project are expected to be incorporated into mainstream mental healthcare. Healthcare organizations play a role in providing mental healthcare. As a quality improvement measure, these organizations may utilize the recommendations from the project to establish a framework for enhancing the quality of mental healthcare for ethnic minority groups. Additionally, they can help in identifying other underlying factors influencing health-seeking behavior and the adoption of community resources for mental health among ethnic minority groups.

Furthermore, healthcare agencies and governments also play a role in mental healthcare. Healthcare agencies such as the CDC recommend the best practices to mitigate the impact of mental health illnesses across communities. Such agencies can use findings from the project to direct caregivers on the best practices to lessen the burden of mental health illnesses across ethnic minority groups. Both states and federal governments can also adopt the provisions from the project in policy making. Healthcare policies that increase resource allocation remain valuable in addressing disparities among ethnic minority groups (Schultz et al., 2023). In mental healthcare, such policies may help mobilize resources to increase awareness of mental health illnesses. This will help reduce misinformation and enhance communities’ understanding of various mental health illnesses.

Additionally, healthcare providers have a direct role in managing mental health illnesses. In the current dispensation, they act as educators but may as well be facilitators of mental health stigma. Provisions of this project can help healthcare providers maintain accountability when treating patients with mental health illnesses. By understanding the impact of mental health stigma on patients with these disorders, healthcare providers will help educate communities on these illnesses and inform quality improvement measures in mental healthcare.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis provides a framework for assessing the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats when implementing evidence-based projects. For quality improvement measures requiring the elucidation of the impact of mental health stigma on ethnic minority groups, there are several areas of strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, as detailed below.

Strengths

The organization’s strengths in supporting the EBP include effective leadership and availability of resources. Effective leadership is vital for change management processes. Organizational leaders steer the organizations toward quality improvement by communicating the provision of the change to the members, creating a buy-in into the change provisions, and aligning the provisions to the organization’s vision (Nilsen et al., 2020). Implementing change processes often requires several resources. Both human and financial resources may be required for the successful implementation of the provisions and recommendations of the project. In the presence of these resources, change processes can be seamless.

Weaknesses

Several factors within the organization can impede the implementation process. Members’ willingness to adopt the provisions of the change may be questionable. In the presence of a diverse workforce, not everyone is expected to conform to change processes. This may slow down the implementation step. Communicating to all employees the need for the change and its significance in mental healthcare can help create a better buy-in. Another apparent weakness is a lack of understanding of what is required from the staff to successfully implement the EBP. This can be solved by educating them on the provisions of the change.

Opportunities

The project seeks to improve the quality of mental healthcare. The likely outcomes of its implementation include improved health-seeking behavior, as demonstrated by increased hospital visits and increased adoption of mental healthcare resources. These are likely to translate into increased financial gains for the organization, improved relationships between the organization and the ethnic minority communities, and improved clinical outcomes.

Threats

Implementing the EBP may be threatened by poor response to the provisions of the EBP by communities. The educational approaches to eliminating misinformation and increasing communities’ understanding of mental health illnesses can be jeopardized by poor responses to the communities. This can be addressed by sustaining these programs and incentivizing communities to participate in the program.

Financial Analysis

The project fetches considerable financial considerations. Full implementation of the project may require 2500 dollars. This will go towards the implementation and execution phases. The cost of implementing the provisions of the project is expected to be 1400 dollars. 1100 dollars will be used to mobilize resources and conduct the study. A cost-benefit analysis will be conducted to ascertain whether there is a return on investment.

Methods and Instrument

The project will utilize a systematic review approach to come up with findings on the impact of mental health stigma on ethnic minority groups. Search terms such as mental health stigma, impact of mental health stigma, and barriers to mental healthcare will be used in locating articles. Research articles will be selected from reputable databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases. These articles will be scrutinized for their credibility and suitability in answering the PICOT question. Data extracted from the articles will be analyzed and synthesized to identify the impact of mental health stigma on ethnic minority groups.

Cultural and Learning Considerations

Several cultural and learning considerations exist when implementing the project. Due to the stakeholders’ diversity, the implementation phase should demonstrate cultural awareness and humility. In this regard, communications should be tailored to each involved stakeholder. Additionally, the cultural readiness of each stakeholder will be assessed before the implementation to prevent any apparent conflicts. The recommendations should also meet the cultural needs of the communities. Also, as the project implementation will involve modifying some clinical aspects, learning considerations have to be made. In this regard, all stakeholders will be educated on the project and its provisions. They will also be educated on their roles and how they can use the provisions to produce a positive change.

Conclusion

Mental health illnesses are one of the global health concerns. These illnesses cause suffering to individuals and communities. Consistently, mental health stigma is a barrier to mental healthcare as it harms patients with mental health disorders. Determining the impact of mental health stigma on patients lays the groundwork for improving the quality of mental healthcare. Projects that are centered on determining the impact of mental health stigma are thus useful in informing quality improvement measures in mental healthcare.

 References

Eylem, O., de Wit, L., van Straten, A., Steubl, L., Melissourgaki, Z., Danışman, G. T., de Vries, R., Kerkhof, A. J., Bhui, K., & Cuijpers, P. (2020). Stigma for common mental disorders in racial minorities and majorities a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08964-3

Javed, A., Lee, C., Zakaria, H., Buenaventura, R. D., Cetkovich-Bakmas, M., Duailibi, K., Ng, B., Ramy, H., Saha, G., Arifeen, S., Elorza, P. M., Ratnasingham, P., & Azeem, M. W. (2021). Reducing the stigma of mental health disorders with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 58, 102601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102601

Nilsen, P., Seing, I., Ericsson, C., Birken, S. A., & Schildmeijer, K. (2020). Characteristics of successful changes in health care organizations: An interview study with physicians, registered nurses, and assistant nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4999-8

Saade, S., Lamarche, A. P., Khalaf, T., Makke, S., & Legg, A. (2023). What barriers could impede access to mental health services for children and adolescents in Africa? A scoping review. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09294-x

Sayed, T. A., Ali, M. M., & Hadad, S. (2021). Risk factors and impact of stigma on psychiatric patients in sohag. The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41983-021-00403-3

Schultz, S., Zorbas, C., Peeters, A., Yoong, S., & Backholer, K. (2023). Strengthening local government policies to address health inequities: Perspectives from Australian local government stakeholders. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-023-01925-3

Subu, M. A., Wati, D. F., Netrida, N., Priscilla, V., Dias, J. M., Abraham, M. S., Slewa-Younan, S., & Al-Yateem, N. (2021). Types of stigma experienced by patients with mental illness and mental health nurses in Indonesia: A qualitative content analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-021-00502-x

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CO 3: Use implementation and change theories to design an action plan for program implementation and evaluation to improve healthcare outcomes.

CO 4: Explore the use of evaluative models for program sustainability.

CO 5: Integrate interprofessional skills to lead project teams in the development of sustainable programs.

Project Planning Paper Guidelines:

Develop a comprehensive project plan in relation to your DNP project. You might consider different alternatives in an effort to develop a plan that best meets the needs of the organization. Your plan can focus on a single factor, but it must be comprehensive. Please consult your faculty with your selection of the focus prior to beginning your plan.

The final paper should not exceed eight pages without a title page, references, and appendix. It should be written in the APA Professional Paper Format, not the student paper format.