Unmet need for mental health care is particularly great in minority populations. Yet despite evident need for mental health services, poor people are less likely to seek mental health treatment than wealthier individuals. Moreover, African-Americans and Hispanics are less likely to seek mental health treatment than non-Hispanic whites. Unmet need for mental health treatment remains considerable and is highest among poor, ethnic and racial minority populations. When minority population do receive mental health care, they are comparatively less likely to receive it from mental health specialists. Poor and minority populations rely disproportionately on primary care providers for mental health treatment and on informal sources of care such as friends, family or clergy. The overall aim of the Mental Health Research Core (MHRC) is to facilitate the development and research evaluation of mental health interventions on low-income minority populations. The MHRC will purse this overall aim through three specific objectives: (1) develop stronger collaborations between mental health researchers trained in service evaluation and community agencies that provide social and health services; (2) promote community-based research on interventions to improve mental health access for low income adults minority adults and children; and (3) identify and implement mechanism to extend mental health research into areas relevant to reducing ethnic and racial disparities in access to mental health care. In addressing these objectives, the MHRC will carry out four related activities reflecting community priorities: (1) partnerships conferences for community mental health promotion, (2) community mental health workshops, (3) a lecture series on minority mental health, and (4) a secondary data analysis program concentrating on mental health services and epidemiological and clinical intervention research that advances the MHRC mission.
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