CULTURE COUNTS: MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES

Course overview

\Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity was written as a supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 1999). It documents the existence of striking disparities for minorities in mental health services and the underlying knowledge base. Racial and ethnic minorities have less access to mental health services than do whites. They are less likely to receive needed care. When they receive care, it is more likely to be poor in quality. In Chapter 4, the focus is on exploring mental illness among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Key words: Culture, race, ethnicity, , society, minorities, minority, white, black, Asian, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, native, Indian, American Indian, Native American, Alaska Native, mental health, disparity, diversity, poverty, context, immigrant, immigration, surgeon general