Mental Health

Mental Health Initiatives

Racial and ethnic minority groups face significant barriers accessing mental health care, despite comparable or heightened need compared to White populations. These barriers include experiences with systemic racism/discrimination, mistrust of mental healthcare providers, cultural stigma related to mental illness, and cost. Refugee, immigrant and migrant (RIM) communities – such as the community in Clarkston, Georgia – face additional challenges, including those related to a lack of access to transportation, limited English proficiency/health literacy, and lack of availability of culturally-appropriate care. This population is also 2.7 times more likely to lack health insurance than US-born residents. The need in Clarkston for mental healthcare is great. Thus, the PRC launched a series of initiatives for mental health services for RIM populations both in the greater Clarkston area and statewide. Click on each initiative below to learn more!

Learn More About the Mental Health Needs of the Community

Current mental health resources in Clarkston, though valuable, are insufficient, leaving many uninsured/under-insured residents without access to affordable mental health care. In Clarkston, where over 40% of those screened at the Clarkston Community Health Center were identified as having at least one psychiatric diagnosis (compared with 20% in the general population), the unmet need is great. This is not surprising, given that, prior to leaving their home countries, many RIM individuals experience traumatic life events, including loss of loved ones, combat, torture, war, and being forced to flee their home for survival; the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in refugee populations is as high as 86% (compared to 7-8% in the general population). The 2023 PRC Community Needs Assessment in Clarkston similarly found that over half of survey respondents reported feeling down/depressed/hopeless and/or feeling lonely in the past 2 weeks. The most common reasons respondents did not seek out mental healthcare included that they could not find a mental healthcare provider (34%), could not afford to pay for mental healthcare services (28%), and/or did not have adequate transportation to get to a mental healthcare facility (16%).

However, this situation is not insurmountable. A PRC study found that over half (55.5%) of respondents reported that if a healthcare professional recommended mental healthcare services, they would accept them. Members of our Clarkston community need – and want – the help, yet resources are woefully inadequate. Thus, in close collaboration with our PRC Community Advisory Board, we launched a series of initiatives to increase the accessibility, affordability and availability of mental health services for RIM populations both in the greater Clarkston area and statewide.