Examining mental health stigma among racial/ethnic minority populations within federally qualified health centers.

Our primary interest is understanding the barriers to mental health treatment that exist within racial/ethnic minority populations, specifically among African Americans, Africans and Island immigrants within Chicago neighborhoods. The goal is to develop and implement interventions that facilitate participation in mental health treatment and improve mental health outcomes within these underserved communities. Currently, my primary mentor Dr. Burnett-Zeigler has implemented a mindfulness based intervention at Komed health center and found that participation is associated with reduced depression and stress and increased mindfulness, functioning and well-being. As an extension to this ongoing research, this proposed research project will study the stigma associated with mental illness and treatment, the barriers that exist for those in need of treatment, using focus groups and key informant interviews. The ultimate goal of this research is to use this data to develop interventions to reduce these psychological barriers to treatment.