At its core, a focus group is a population of people selected to participate in a planned discussion to elicit a consumer’s perception regarding a particular area of interest. Content analysis is a common expression used to construe texts of focus groups using various techniques. While using content analysis, it is crucial to use specifics and scientific explanations. This paper discusses the themes outlined in the Handout titled “Content Analysis of Focus Groups among the Asian American Population,” recommendations to address particular barriers and stigmatization associated with receiving mental health treatment. The research addresses a hurdle considered incompetent from a cultural standpoint. Collaboration with stakeholders depends on their beliefs, which impacts data interpretation of the focus group data.
Themes Found in the Week 5 Handout and Analysis
A common trend found throughout the Handout is the mental well being of Asians and their incapacity to receive medical help. There is an apparent lack of trust between the participants who took part in the study, Asians and Western doctors. Asians feel desperate because the relief to find mental well-being help has not been addressed through traditional means. Their woes and resorts are presented to Western doctors who do not respect the Asian beliefs contrary to their expectations. This contradicts the therapeutic rapport that should have been gained, which causes intervention and treatment recommendations for the treatment's ineffectiveness (Sevilla et al.,2018). The patients address social stigmatization. On the other hand, service providers seem reluctant to work on the barrier regardless of the apparent language and cultural barriers and a lack of trust.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The content highlights the social stigma common among people seeking mental help due to mental health problems. There is fear among the Asian people to visit psychiatrists due to stigma. Stigma, at its core, is the stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes held by the public. They induce fear, reject, and are associated with distancing oneself from people experiencing mental illnesses. Besides stigmatization, they also face financial difficulties and are forced to paying more money when seeking mental help. The additional barrier, therefore, stems from financial difficulties. Many patients fear visiting psychiatrists due to the costs involved, which is quite challenging for them to meet.
Two Social Work Recommendations
Due to diversity, ethnic communities such as Asians and African-Americans comprehend that cultural distinctions result in them being misunderstood. The rationale stems from the fact that practitioners who are not of the same decency as theirs are unlikely to relate to and understand their fears and barriers they face as they seek mental health help. Furthermore, communication obstacles and the lack of validation from other results in distrust, which can be dangerous in a health care setting. The danger is that the patient is unlikely to open up to practitioners hence the inability to receive mental health help deemed crucial.
A key recommendation I would like to make is for health practitioners to be educated about cultural competence. Understanding and acknowledging there is variance and diversity in the people they serve will help them treat vulnerable patients and know the clientele they serve (Berman, 2020). Through cultural competency, the health practitioners will be able to render empathy and, consequently, quality care to all their patients regardless of racial or ethnic background.
The other recommendation is for health practitioners to incorporate physical and mental health into all training pieces done on their patients. The training should touch on cultural competence because of the crucial role in the effective treatment of people (Knight et al., 2014). Furthermore, the United States is characterized by diverse populations. When this becomes the norm, there will be sufficient understanding and cultural sensitivity between health caregivers and citizens. Meeting at a cultural understanding point will breed equitable and profitable relationships between the client and the medical professionals.
Collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure Correct Data Interpretation and Appropriate Cultural Recommendations
To be culturally competent, one should put continuous effort to explore, define, and refine questions asked during a study. Also, the research design should be adjusted such that it suits the cultural context. The rationale is based on the fact that when carrying out research, access to culturally accurate information is crucial for both the community and the health care service providers to all patients. Critical stakeholders in health care should be up to date with real-time, accurate, and vital information to prevent cultural likely to take place in the future during patient and doctor interactions. Marsiglia & Booth (2015) reveal that most researchers tend to bring their values, beliefs, and history into an investigation when conducting a study. This creates a new meaning for the dynamics of difference. Also, they tend to perceive the patients from their cultural standpoints hence the failure to understand them.
Reflection
As I aforementioned, Asians and African Americans understand the stigmatization and mistrust that arise during their encounters with medical practitioners. The similarities are drawn due to barriers such as language, varying beliefs, and their hesitation in seeking help for mental health problems. Due to the lack of representation, they believe that they will not get quality care. However, if practitioners perceived them as other populations regardless of their ethnicity, they will understand their culture and best serve them. According to the Handout, it is evident that Asians rely on Chinese herbalists hoping for mental well being yet they get no improvements. This practice holds the same for African-Americans, where our community believes that dealing with things on a spiritual level will improve our physical and mental well-being. The last resort is usually seeking professional help, which in our community is considered non-effective. However, if more professionals understand them, they are likely to be understood and given better mental health care.
References
Berman, Z. L. (2020). Are We Ready to Serve? Couple and Family Therapists’ Attitudes Toward BDSM and Their Perceived Competence Helping BDSM Practitioners (Doctoral dissertation). https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/26509
Knight, K. R., Lopez, A. M., Comfort, M., Shumway, M., Cohen, J., & Riley, E. D. (2014). Single room occupancy (SRO) hotels as mental health risk environments among impoverished women: The intersection of policy, drug use, trauma, and urban space. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25 (3), 556-561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2013.10.011.
Marsiglia, F. F., & Booth, J. M. (2015). Cultural adaptation of interventions in real practice settings. Research on social work practice , 25 (4), 423-432. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1049731514535989
Sevilla-Llewellyn-Jones, J., Santesteban-Echarri, O., Pryor, I., McGorry, P., & Alvarez-Jimenez, M. (2018). Web-based mindfulness interventions for mental health treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis. JMIR mental health , 5 (3), e10278. https://mental.jmir.org/2018/3/e10278/?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=JMIR_TrendMD_0
