Addressing barriers to mental health service utilization among Muslim youth and families using a community-based participatory research approach

Despite an identified need for treatment in this population, there continues to be a significant underutilization of formal mental health services among Muslim youth and families in the United States, due to a range of cultural, religious, and socioeconomic barriers. Consequently, traditional methods of engaging this population in clinical services and research have proven to be inadequate, whereas there is growing evidence to suggest that community- based participatory research (CBPR) approaches emphasizing collaboration with community stakeholders throughout the research process may be more acceptable and effective in addressing disparities in mental health care for racial/ethnic minority youth and families. The current study employs a CBPR approach to improve attitudes and stigma-related beliefs toward mental health services among “gatekeepers” to referrals in the local Muslim community. A community- academic partnership (CAP) was formed with a local religious Islamic school affiliated with a prominent Sunni mosque in Central New Jersey. A series of mental health psychoeducation and skills building workshops were developed with school leadership for teachers at the partnering school, and one workshop was implemented. Participants were attendees of the workshop who were invited to participate in a web-based survey following the attended workshop, in order to assess change over time in attitudes toward mental health services and treatment-seeking, barriers/facilitators to referrals for services, mental health stigma-related beliefs, and knowledge about services and local resources. Participants also provided qualitative and quantitative feedback about acceptability and suggestions for future workshops. Aims of the study included creation of a community-academic partnership, development and implementation of three gatekeeper training and education workshops, and evaluation of efforts to indirectly increase mental health service utilization among a local Muslim school community by influencing factors associated with teachers’ mental health referral propensity. Results demonstrated acceptable feasibility for both the CAP and workshops, and identified challenges to be addressed for improved feasibility and sustainability of efforts. Results also demonstrated high acceptability of workshops, as well as increased mental health knowledge and mental health referral propensity, and decreased mental health stigma-related beliefs as a result of attending the workshop. Survey responses were utilized to develop a list of recommendations for community clinics and clinicians seeking to increase access and utilization of formal mental health services for other underserved or difficult-to-reach youth populations.Psy.D.Includes bibliographical reference