Engaging Asian Americans for mental health research: challenges and solutions.
Asian American communities have important and unmet mental health needs, but there is comparatively little research data on process and outcomes that can guide evidence-based approaches to mental health care. This paper describes our experience of building research programs in a community-based health care facility, some of the challenges we faced, and barriers that were overcome. We have learned that a) mental health services research can be carried out in a community health center with minimal intrusion on usual patient flow; b) the effort must be shared between the health center and the community; c) barriers to participation in mental health research programs are multifactorial ranging from conceptual, cultural, and attitudinal biases to practical concerns inherent in the ethnic minority population; and d) resistance can be overcome by working with participants' cultural and social needs and using their explanatory belief models when developing and pursuing studies.
Chen
Hongtu
H
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Boylston Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. htchen@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Kramer
Elizabeth J
EJ
Chen
Teddy
T
Chung
Henry
H
D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology