Abstract
This special journal issue was devised to solicit original manuscripts on current research findings, review studies, or conceptual papers pertaining to clinical or community level interventions, innovative treatment approaches, and discussions of cross-cultural issues pertinent to reducing ethnic disparities while improving care provided to patients with depression. Envisioning a collection of quality studies that encompassed a range of diverse topics reflecting the complexity of this issue, we broadly sought papers on areas including, but not limited to health beliefs, stigma, the care-seeking process, genetics and pharmacodynamics, financial barriers or other access problems, informal sources of care, healthcare reform and policy implications for mental health parity, the contribution and burden of medical comorbidities and care coordination, therapeutic alliance and cultural views of clinical power dynamics, unique issues regarding age, gender, and religious or sexual orientation, treatment retention and medication adherence, familial or social dynamics, specific treatment modalities, and special concerns of community patients and large insured populations alike.
Highlights
Though we appreciate the difficulty of gathering and synthesizing information covering the scope of all these subjects, this issue represents a collection of intriguing, high-quality scholarly work that targets essential issues central to the research and clinical community
An increasing body of research is accumulating that focuses on a variety of pertinent issues, including perceived stigma and discrimination leading to lower health status, with depression as a significant factor [6], the interaction of gender with ethnicity and depression [7], how one’s culture and worldview can help moderate hopelessness and suicidality [8], and the role of comorbid medical illnesses and substance abuse upon appropriate treatment seeking for depression in minority patients [9, 10]. These scholarly inquiries, in addition to numerous recent studies investigating other psychosocial dimensions, offer tremendous promise regarding the academic community and its aspiration to tackle these challenges. Despite this positive research trend and an ongoing emphasis of promoting cultural competence to address potential disparities in assessment and care, very few research studies overtly frame their study design approach within a suitable conceptual model to examine the complex myriad of issues [11]
Appropriate care for minority patients involves a complex interplay of appropriate access to care, illness recognition, health beliefs and a willing to seek treatment, patient-provider dynamics, cultural and family support, and the availability of mental health specialists and informal sources of care
Summary
Though we appreciate the difficulty of gathering and synthesizing information covering the scope of all these subjects, this issue represents a collection of intriguing, high-quality scholarly work that targets essential issues central to the research and clinical community. An increasing body of research is accumulating that focuses on a variety of pertinent issues, including perceived stigma and discrimination leading to lower health status, with depression as a significant factor [6], the interaction of gender with ethnicity and depression [7], how one’s culture and worldview can help moderate hopelessness and suicidality [8], and the role of comorbid medical illnesses and substance abuse upon appropriate treatment seeking for depression in minority patients [9, 10].
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