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Host of Barriers Prevents Elderly Minority Individuals From Seeking Help “It's really about finding out more about the patient,” said Nicole Zuber, M.D., a psychiatrist at Beth Israel Medical Center and one of seven APA minority fellows who spoke at APA’s 2012 annual meeting in Philadelphia. The workshop was chaired by Deina Nemiary, M.D., M.P.H., and titled “Barriers to Seeking Treatment Among Geriatric Minority Populations With Mental Illness: Examining Cultural Views Contributing to Disparities.” The speakers related their personal experiences treating patients with culturally diverse backgrounds and explained that cultural bias can run from doctor to patient, but also from patient to doctor. “Culture is experienced differently by different members of a cultural group based on their gender, race, religion, and language,” explained Nicole Christian, M.D. “When a patient comes in, we often make assumptions about their cultural background. They may identify with a very different culture from the one we assume they do. It’s very important to ask patients about their own cultural identity.” Audience participation was lively. “People may not want to talk to [a mental health professional] from their own cultural group because they are worried about confidentiality,” pointed out one audience member. “They may not want an interpreter for that same reason” because cultural communities may be fairly cohesive. The group pointed out that stigma is the most significant barrier to treatment for geriatric minority patients, but access issues, social issues, and poor cultural matching between patients and therapists also play a part. |
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Copyright © 2012 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.