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Review
. 2019 Dec;76(6):683-710.
doi: 10.1177/1077558718780592. Epub 2018 Jun 7.

A Review of Mental Health and Mental Health Care Disparities Research: 2011-2014

Benjamin Lê Cook  1   2 , Sherry Shu-Yeu Hou  1 , Su Yeon Lee-Tauler  2 , Ana Maria Progovac  1   2 , Frank Samson  1 , Maria Jose Sanchez  1
Affiliations
Review

A Review of Mental Health and Mental Health Care Disparities Research: 2011-2014

Benjamin Lê Cook et al. Med Care Res Rev. 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Racial/ethnic minorities in the United States are more likely than Whites to have severe and persistent mental disorders and less likely to access mental health care. This comprehensive review evaluates studies of mental health and mental health care disparities funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to provide a benchmark for the 2015 NIMH revised strategic plan. A total of 615 articles were categorized into five pathways underlying mental health care and three pathways underlying mental health disparities. Identified studies demonstrate that socioeconomic mechanisms and demographic moderators of disparities in mental health status and treatment are well described, as are treatment options that support diverse patient needs. In contrast, there is a need for studies that focus on community- and policy-level predictors of mental health care disparities, link discrimination- and trauma-induced neurobiological pathways to disparities in mental illness, assess the cost effectiveness of disparities reduction programs, and scale up culturally adapted interventions.

Keywords: disparities; mental health; mental health treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagram of study selection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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