Mental Health Equity in the Twenty-First Century: Setting the Stage

Abstract

Significant mental health disparities persist in screening, diagnosis, and treatment for racial and ethnic minorities compared with non-Latinx white people. Reducing mental health disparities, and ultimately achieving mental health equity, requires understanding the wide range of factors that influence health outcomes at multiple levels. Components of an effective strategy to achieve mental health equity include increasing population-based care; increasing community-based health care services; addressing the social determinants of health; engaging the community; enhancing the pipeline; and supporting a diverse, structurally competent workforce.

Keywords: Disparities; Equity; Ethnicity; Interventions; Race.