By Andrea De Bartolo, B.Sc.
Each of us can see and feel the impact that COVID-19 had on millions of people over the past couple of years. Personal stories of families struggling, children dealing with the uncertainty of their future, and foreign issues across the world. Among many things, these two years have brought to light the issues and defects of the mental health system. One aspect of these shortcomings are the barriers that marginalized communities face when seeking mental health services. We are now faced with the necessary task of reforming the system.
Marginalized communities often struggle to reach out for help, or receive the help when they do connect with services for various complex reasons. These reasons may include discrimination, lack health insurance, stigma, mistrust of the healthcare system, and limited awareness about mental illnesses. These issues are detrimental to providing help within these communities, since many people in marginalized communities suffer more severe forms of mental illness. These problems, such as the fear of judgment or discrimination, add to the already difficult endeavour of finding appropriate resources and treatment.
Making a change in this system starts with daily, individual steps. In this article, 5 key points are listed that focus on practical changes clinicians can make in their everyday practice.
- Collaborate With Your Community
Some clients may not have the resources or time to look within the community for organizations, groups, events, or services that focus on helping marginalized communities. Take some time, or ask your staff, to compile a list of resources in the area. This list can be sent out to clients, passed out to other clinics, and sent around to universities or schools to distribute to students. Creating a wide outreach can provide a feasible solution for those struggling. Here is a resource for Anti-Black Racism & Mental Health services in Toronto.
- Build Trust
It may be challenging for clients that are part of marginalized communities to trust the healthcare systems due to previous negative experiences. In order to provide the necessary help your client needs, trust and rapport must be built. To build and strengthen this trust, clinicians must ask their client questions about past encounters with health care providers. Conversations like these can be used to form a foundation of respect, understanding and compassion between clinician and client. With the knowledge of previous experiences, clinicians can ensure they are making an effort to not fall into the same behaviours.
- Checking-In With Yourself
In addition to conversations with their clients, clinicians must check-in on themselves to notice any personal biases and judgment that might be present. We often, in this field, do our best to be open, non-judgemental, and understanding, yet we are still human. Many of our own biases play a role in how we interact with others, even our clients. To bring awareness to any judgments that might be lingering, try to pause and think of any assumptions you are making about your client’s culture or upbringing. Even a slight assumption might be making a large impact on the other person. In session, you can go back to Tip #2 and ask them about it, learn more about who they are and where they come from.
- Advocating for clients
Clients in marginalized communities often struggle with finances and may not always have insurance to cover the cost. Some clinics have the option of providing services at lower fees. If you have a client who may be holding off on services due to financial concerns, you can advocate for them to your clinic. With your clinic manager or director, you may want to bring up a lower cost option and learn more about the policies of the clinic. To go a step further, you can offer probono services to clients if you have the bandwidth to do so. Ask other clinicians in your clinic what they think about providing these services, and maybe it can grow into a consistent service for many other clients.
- Gain Knowledge
The final thing that you can do is to continue to gain knowledge on this topic. Attend seminars and presentations that discuss the challenges of marginalized communities; discuss these topics with your team; and read articles on the subject. Having update knowledge on this can help you engage with your clients in a meaningful and guinea way.
These steps will not solve the foundation challenges and problems that this system faces, and yet, by engaging in these behaviors, we can be on our way to creating a healthy, high-quality mental health system.
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More Resources:
https://www.twentytwentyarts.com/post/10-free-mental-health-resources-in-canada-toronto