Underlying Mental Health Disparities

This Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital’s project investigates differential mechanisms that may explain ethnic/racial disparities in mental health outcomes and mental health service delivery utilizing national datasets.

The Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital has received a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to conduct research designed to reduce racial/ethnic mental health disparities and to benefit minority communities. We propose to study barriers to mental health care and mechanisms that underlie racial/ethnic differences in mental disorder onset and persistence by carrying out secondary analysis of community epidemiological data from US epidemiological surveys linked to the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys (CPES). Our aim is to identify how best to use our research results as actionable targets for intervention and/or policy change. We hope to identify key stakeholders from community groups, consumers, and policymakers who can review our findings and help generate recommendations for prevention, service, and policy interventions aimed at reducing racial/ethnic disparities in mental health outcomes and services.

Objectives:

AIM 1: Examine a multi-faceted model explaining mechanisms underlying racial/ethnic differences in mental disorder onset, persistence, and severity.

AIM 2: Identify whether the individual and county-level health care supply barriers to access and receipt of mental health care differ for racial/ethnic minority populations.

AIM 3: In collaboration with community partners, we propose to begin translating epidemiological findings into actionable targets for intervention and/or policy proposals that can address the identified disparities.

Funding Acknowledgement

This study is supported by NIMHD grant # 7R01MD009719.