A decade has passed since the National Institute of Mental Health initiated its landmark Real Men Real Depression public education campaign. Despite increased awareness, depressed African American men continue to underutilize mental health treatment and have the highest all-cause mortality rates of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. We review a complex array of socio-cultural factors, including racism and discrimination, cultural mistrust, misdiagnosis and clinician bias, and informal support networks that contribute to treatment disparities. We identify clinical and community entry points to engage African American men. We provide specific recommendations for frontline mental health workers to increase depression treatment utilization for African American men. Providers who present treatment options within a frame of holistic health promotion may enhance treatment adherence. We encourage the use of multidisciplinary, community-based participatory research approaches to test our hypotheses and engage African American men in clinical research.
Post-9/11, many faith-based responders expressed the opinion that they were neither prepared nor trained to recognize the mental health needs of long-term trauma survivors. With funding through the Red Cross, an interdisciplinary trauma training program was developed to increase the capacity of the New York Southern Baptist Church groups to provide trauma assessment and support through the Metropolitan Baptist Association of New York. Through a pretest and posttest survey, the training was evaluated. Of the workshop attendees, 91% gave positive feedback and felt the training was worthwhile. The results suggest an ongoing need for interdisciplinary training that includes faith-based groups.
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