243 Why are Somali refugees not utilizing mental healthcare? Identifying barriers impacting mental healthcare utilization among Somali Refugees

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: We seek to describe the challenges to mental healthcare access and utilization among Somali refugees in Minnesota. The objectives of this study are 1) to characterize beliefs and attitudes about mental illness and 2) identify barriers, either personally experienced or perceived, to utilizing mental health services among Somali refugees. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Mental health challenges are of particular concern among Somali refugees, who have been found to have rates of PTSD as high as 50%. However, Somali refugees are reported to underutilize mental healthcare. We will recruit 20-25 Somali refugee women and men, who are 18 years or older and reside in the Twin Cities, to participate in one on one interviews. Participants will be asked about their perception of barriers to mental healthcare services, and their beliefs about mental illness and treatment. We will transcribe the interviews, code them, and identify key themes. A community advisory board will be directly involved in the research design, recruitment, interview instrument development, interpretation of findings, and dissemination of project materials as part of our community engagement protocol. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: When completed we expect to identify mental health beliefs and barriers to mental healthcare utilization. The long-term goal of this work is to reduce the substantial mental health morbidity among Somali refugees. Common barriers to research participation that we expect are mistrust, financial constraints, fear of unintended outcomes, stigma about participating in research, and fear of deportation or concern of immigration status. We plan to address these barriers by hiring bilingual Somali recruiter/interviewer, translating study materials, reassuring confidentiality of participant’s information, providing a $50 incentive, and implementing community advisory board’s input on study design and recruitment sites. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Translational Impact: Findings from interviews will be disseminated and evaluated by members of the community and providers. Recommendations based on our findings can be applied in mental healthcare practice to reduce identified barriers. Community dissemination can also promote the destigmatization of mental healthcare in the Somali community.