Abstract
Objective: Socially disadvantaged individuals are at high risk for having their mental health service needs unmet. We explored the relations among education level, income level, and self-reported barriers to mental health service use for individuals with a mental illness, using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-Being (CCHS 1.2). Methods: Our sample group comprised the 8.3% of adult respondents who met the CCHS 1.2 criteria for an anxiety or affective disorder in the past 12 months (n = 3101). We examined the association between education and income levels and self-reported accessibility, availability, or acceptability barriers to mental health care. Results: Accessibility, availability, and acceptability barriers were reported by 3%, 5%, and 16% of our sample, respectively. Individuals with a high school diploma were less likely than individuals without a high school diploma to report acceptability barriers to care (odds ratio 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.45 to 0.93). Higher-income individuals were less likely than lower-income individuals to report acceptability barriers to care (odds ratio 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.50 to 0.96). Employment, distress level, age, and family structure were also associated with acceptability barriers. Conclusion: Issues related to acceptability explain most of the unmet need for mental health services. Program planners should consider the development of targeted approaches to service delivery and outreach for low-income, working individuals who have not completed high school.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 201-206 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Canadian Journal of Psychiatry |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 3 |
State | Published - Mar 2007 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Health services accessibility
- Mental health services
- Socioeconomic status
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health