Healthcare Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Minority
Populations Mental Health America believes that it is essential
that all aspects of mental health systems be reflective of the
diversity of the communities that they serve and that mental
health agencies strive to become and remain culturally and
linguistically competent. A culturally and linguistically
competent mental health system incorporates skills, attitudes,
and policies to ensure that it is effectively addressing the
needs of consumers and families with diverse values, beliefs,
and sexual orientations, in addition to backgrounds that vary by
race, ethnicity, religion, and language. The unique geographical
and cultural challenges to service delivery in rural America
hamper the effectiveness of current delivery models. Rural
behavioral health needs remain constant with the lack of
available professional staff, a lack of cultural and
linguistically competent providers, social stigma, fear of lack
of confidentiality, financing and reimbursement issue