Poverty and socioeconomic status as predictors of mental health challenges

Poverty and Community Mental Health

Based on the supplemental reading for this week found in the resource folder, we can agree that poverty is a solid predictor of multiple challenges found in the field of mental health. In your own words (support your response by citing your sources) express your understanding of poverty and how it influences Community Mental Health at large (your response should meet the criteria found on the discussion board rubric). Please do not respond by using bullet points, utilize complete sentences to respond to this question.

Despite spending close to three trillion dollars a year on healthcare, significantly more than any other country in total or per capita, the United States does exactly maintain a healthy population (comparatively speaking) (Lavizzo-Mourey, 2015). Although there have been many proposed and attempted reforms to the system, and there have been many different ideas about how to make the system more effective, mental health is typically given a low priority in public policy decisions for low-income individuals and families. The political system seems to uphold a significant amount of resistance to the idea that mental health is an effective public policy objective which deserves the allocation of public funding.

In recent history the debate over whether healthcare should be considered a privilege or a right has regained momentum in politics; especially with the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). There have been some political candidates running for president, such as Bernie Sanders, that have contributed to a national dialogue on the matter. Although ACA reforms do not expand healthcare universally or make mental health more accessible, the series of reforms did make basic healthcare service more accessible for millions of Americans which will hopefully serve as a foundation for future reforms. The utilitarian theory suggests that all actions should be attempted to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people and if policy makers fully understood the link between mental health and public health, it is likely that they would devote more substantial resources to supporting this cause (Best, 2006).

Decisions about health care are made at multiple levels within the system: (a) the macro level where policy is established by governments, health authorities, insurance plans, etc.; (b) the meso level where organizational budgets are established by organizational administrators; and (c) the micro level where care is delivered by clinician providers (Jones, 2015). In the U.S. there are millions of individuals still do not have to mental health care and these individuals are subject to many other related health risks, as well as the financial risk. For example, many individuals use the ER for non-emergency services, and even mental health issues, and these costs can drive up the costs in the entire system and an emergency room cannot deny care based on their financial ability to pay for services.