The Office of Minority Health will be seeking new partners and innovative ways to deliver health information to multicultural communities. Increasingly, minority populations are experiencing increased pressures and societal demands as they strive to cope with such issues as education, welfare reform, alien status, and managed health care. These issues are impacting all citizens in the form of increased bouts of depression, stress, and anxiety disorder. Some people have recently immigrated to the United States and may not be fluent in the English language. This can make it difficult to understand eligibility requirements for needed health services.
Many minorities are unemployed and live below the poverty level.
In many cases, our constituents do not have access to health care facilities and lack health insurance. Cultural differences often cause anxieties that the majority population may not understand. Cultural competency is an area in which OMH is working diligently. A stigma toward those suffering from mental illness still exists in our communities. Both patients and providers fail to recognize symptoms, and the condition often goes untreated.