The findings suggest that family can play an important role not just in encouraging individuals to seek out help but also discouraging people who need help from getting it, says Michael Lindsey, Ph.D., an associate professor of social work at New York University.
“Family is important because they’re the first point of contact,” Lindsey says. “They’re often the first people who recognize that there’s a problem and can help problem solve about what the next steps will be, whether that’s to push or pull someone away from treatment.”
Lindsey notes that future work should focus on what individual factors within these family interactions influence individuals to enter treatment as well as how families might be incorporated into mental health services to make treatment as successful as possible.
This article was originally published by the Health Behavior News Service, part of the Center for Advancing Health.
Family History Of Undertreatment May Discourage Blacks From Seeking Mental Health Care was originally published on blackdoctor.org
