Only 2% of mental health professionals are black. This means that most African American mental health patients have no choice but to select someone from outside their background for services.
Naturally, it’s not sensible or ethical to select care providers on the grounds of their race. However, when entire segments of the population do not see themselves reflected in the landscape of the mental health profession, it can be discouraging.
There is a significant body of research supporting the fact that diversity in healthcare breeds better results for everyone within the system.
In this article, we take a look at how diversity can play an important role in optimizing patient results.
The Benefits of Diversity
Diversity is so often seen as a social justice concept that its broader benefits can be forgotten. That makes sense. Many people have been refused a seat at the table for so long that helping them get their foot in the door has been prioritized over explaining what will actually happen when they get there.
In fact, diversity is about more than connecting individuals with opportunities. At the organizational level, businesses that prioritize diverse hiring practices experience higher profit margins than those that do not. It isn’t because they’ve satisfied some “good karma,” requirement. It’s because they’ve tapped into the power of varying perspectives.
They are better able to connect their products and services to a wider audience because they have a much wider breadth of understanding to tap into than businesses packed with people from a common background.
The same basic principle is true with mental health services. It would be deeply problematic to suggest that only white mental health professionals can treat white patients, or that only black mental health professionals can treat black patients.
The idea is simply to establish a diversity of options. The more perspectives contributing to the collective understanding of mental health in America, the more accessible these services will be for the widest possible number of people.
Common Backgrounds Breed Empathy
It’s well documented that African Americans receiving healthcare treatment in the United States are more likely to experience unnecessary complications than white patients being treated for the same condition.
The reasoning behind these numbers is difficult to clearly identify. The vast majority of doctors and nurses would not purposely provide subpar care to anyone—regardless of their race.
What’s happening? Many experts believe that it is a consequence of unconscious bias. Healthcare professionals are subconsciously minimizing minority patients’ concerns. It’s usually not blatant— if a minority patient walks into a hospital saying they took a tumble down the stairs, there isn’t a white doctor standing in the annex to tell them they are wrong.
It’s more about how white medical professionals understand and act on what minority patients tell them. Healthcare outcomes improve for minority patients in environments where the medical staff is diverse.
These considerations apply equally to mental health care. While symptoms and afflictions are common amongst people across backgrounds, the way that they describe or live through said symptoms may be influenced by their background. Receiving care from someone who understands these distinctions firsthand can be very beneficial.
Patients Feel More Comfortable
While having a good relationship with your care provider is always important in healthcare, it’s never more valuable than in mental health services. If you break your arm, you don’t have to say anything about it at all. Doctors can find out everything they need to know simply by looking at the X-rays.
Mental health services are different. In these cases, the patient usually cannot make significant progress without disclosing their experiences. Having access to a relatable care provider can make all the difference in how comfortable the patient feels opening up.
How to Increase Diversity in Mental Health Care
All of those benefits are great, but how can healthcare organizations achieve them? While actively seeking diverse candidates is a great start, it doesn’t address the fact that the majority of mental health professionals are not racially diverse.
Below, we explore ways that the healthcare system can work toward a more diverse future while also making the most of the various perspectives it currently has.
Making Mental Healthcare an Accessible Career Path
One of the ways to increase the number of minority mental health professionals is to start early. Many universities are already taking steps to actively recruit high school students from a wide variety of backgrounds for their healthcare curriculums.
This is a good way to generate attention to programs that have historically been predominately occupied by white students.
Increasing the number of grants and scholarships focused on minority students is another great way to help secure a more diverse future for the American healthcare system.
DEI Boards
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Boards effectively act as advisors for organizations that want to diversify both their hiring practices and the way that they interact with the general public. They can help organizations revise policies and utilize the most inclusive possible language in all public-facing and internal communications.
This combination of factors helps make organizations that utilize DEI Boards more accessible to the general public.
Diversity Breeds Diversity
While diversity initiatives can be challenging, the nice thing is that progress breeds more progress. When mental health organizations utilize the service of a DEI board, they become more appealing to diverse professional candidates.
Organizations that have many diverse mental health professionals may quickly find that they have diversified their patient load as well.
People do better in all healthcare scenarios when they feel like they are seen and heard. The chance of establishing meaningful connections goes up considerably when patients have care providers that they can trust and relate to.
It’s very important to give people from every background the opportunity to experience care provided by people who will relate to and understand them. While that’s easier said than done, organizations can increase the diversity of their hiring practices by starting early and weaving an emphasis on diversity into every aspect of their operations.
Everyone needs access to good mental health services. Emphasizing the value of diversity is one way to help make that happen.
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