The Impact Of Geography On Mental Health Service Use And Care

The study by Kim et al., (2013), examined racial and ethnic disparities in older black and white adults and the role of geography in mental health service use and care. The critique of this article examined disparities addressed but also the lack of other minorities suffering lack of mental health service use. Reducing racial disparities across the four regions in the South, Northeast, Midwest and West would support improving mental health access at the national level. The older blacks in the South had a much higher rate of non-use of mental health services when compared to whites. The disparity was affected by age, income, educational level, gender and marital status. The sample size was over 2800 individuals covering 252†¦show more content†¦Disparities also affect Blacks, Latinos, and lower educated and low socio economic individuals more than whites. Not only individual population groups are affected but regional disparities have been identified causing alarm in me ntal health communities (Kim et al., 2013). The article examines multiply mental health service use disparities in the United States, yet specifically looked at regions in the South, Northeast, Midwest and West. Service use of mental health varied significantly by region. Over 250 different geographic areas were sampled for the research. The national priority for eliminating these disparities needs to be addressed to reduce this imbalance. How does the mental health community open up access across geographical areas of the country to services for the older racially and ethnically diverse clientele? CRITIQUE Utilizing over 2800 study subjects in four different regions throughout the country the sample showed significant racial disparities (Kim et al., 2013). This research article supported an adequate sample size. Logistic regression analyses drawn from â€Å"Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES)† were analyzed to support the data. The research was conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Andersen’s behavioral model of health service utilization was employed in the present study as the theoretical framework. Many