Ethnomedicine for African Americans means the use of cultural, spiritual, and beliefs to address health and illness (Patton, 2015). The continued application of ethnomedicine among black healers has continued to remain relevant in the African Americans as healers use such ideologies in healing majority of its citizens. The African American ethnomedicine focuses on using animal and plants as the source of effective treatment, thus implementing continued authorization of biomedicine in the region. The application of traditional medical practices by African Americans extends beyond the individual level, and it is perceived as a tool for the community and society. In effect, Ethnomedicine remains a viable approach for addressing health issues and illness among African Americans.
Mental healthcare access depends on various factors that influence the seeking of such services and effectiveness of the administered treatment approach. The factors are understood based on the cultural areas that determine the ability of victims to feel motivated to look for intervention mechanisms. For instance, stigma and the level of discrimination appears to be the most underlying reason as to why some cultures find it difficult to look for mental health intervention and treatment approach (Memon et al., 2016). The prejudicial attitude by people contributes to the decision by people to distance them and fear the intervention mechanism that is likely to address the mental health issues facing individuals. Financial barriers also provide the reason as to why the majority of people from different communities do not seek mental health and illness treatment approaches. For instance, the treatment process is recognized as one of the costly treatment approach making it difficult for people to afford. The relationship between the service provider and the availability of social networks also affect the level of treatment that people give to the mental health victim. The relationship between care providers various aspects such as waiting time and language to be used in communication,
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Amongst the reasons for ineffective access to mental health treatment, discrimination, social networks, and recognition of mental health problems appear to be the factors that prevent access to mental health among and African Americans. From the discrimination view, most of the mental health care providers in the United States are whites. As a result, there exist trust issues between the healthcare provider and an African American mentally ill individual (Patton, 2015). As a result, racism and prejudice remain the reason as to why there is overreliance of ethnomedicine among African Americans. Social networks and recognition of the existence of mental health problem in an individual service user depend on the extent to which family and community members engage in discussion and identify viable mental health treatment approach. The African American community has individuals have lost family networks, and they do not recognize the importance of discussing mental health issues openly. As a result, it becomes challenging to identify mental health problems, thus hindering access to effective intervention mechanism.
In an attempt of addressing these challenges, there is a need for conducting campaign awareness to inform and empower African Americans to engage with their mental wellness and with available services. This approach will break the barrier of fear for seeking intervention mechanisms. Healthcare providers also need to participate in a training program in an attempt to understand cultural issues and differences that contribute to the level of discrimination. Understanding cultural differences encourage service providers and users to interact freely, thus building a high level of trust among individuals. The effectiveness of these strategies occurs as a result of curbing and minimizing the level of discrimination that exists between service users and providers.
References
Memon, A., Taylor, K., Mohebati, L. M., Sundin, J., Cooper, M., Scanlon, T., & de Visser, R. (2016). Perceived barriers to accessing mental health services among black and minority ethnic (BME) communities: a qualitative study in Southeast England. BMJ open, 6(11), e012337.
Patton, A. S. (2015). The intelligence of healing: Black American ethnomedicine as alternative knowledge. Michigan State University.
