Mental Health Support for Vulnerable Communities: Why It Matters

Khushi Khandelwal — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:30:00 +0000

Whether you’re a single mum struggling with bills, or a young student from a low socio-economic background, everyone deserves access to mental health services. The problem is, this isn’t always the reality.

This article will explore the importance of mental health support for vulnerable communities and why it is so essential.

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Access Mental Health Support: The Common Barriers

What are some of the barriers to accessing mental health?

Not everyone has the finances to afford therapy.
People who live in rural areas may have limited access to psychologists or psychiatrists (and any local professionals might not have availability for a long period of time)
There may be cultural barriers; for example, English may not be someone’s first language
Mental health itself can be a barrier as sometimes people feel like it’s not worth, or they are not able to, pursue help, particularly when other factors make it especially difficult for them
Lack of awareness; a lack of education in particular population groups can mean that people don’t have the knowledge to properly seek help
Cultural beliefs; some cultures may not acknowledge or discuss mental health problems
Stigma and embarrassment, such as fear of identifying with a mental illness

The Impact of Systemic Inequalities on Mental Health

According to this article published through the National Library of Medicine, there are many key issues in global mental health.

To the World Health Organization, health inequalities can be defined as ‘differences in health status or in the distribution of health determinants between different population groups’. Inequity in mental health does exist in access to care, use, and outcomes of care (such as mortality rates) and can occur by geographical region, gender, socioeconomic status, racial or ethnic background, and sexual orientation.

The consequences of these mental health inequalities include the unnecessary suffering and premature deaths, increased stigma and marginalization, lack of investment in mental health infrastructure, and limited (or complete lack of) treatment for people struggling with these conditions.

Factors that can improve a community’s mental health are social connection and support, as community bonds impact mental health.

People could attend city council meetings to make their voices heard (bringing issues they care about to light), support local businesses, or join a local group, such as a book club. This builds a great foundation for positive mental health.

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Benefits of Mental Health Support

So, how does mental health support enhance quality of life? Good mental health means:

People can handle stress a lot better
It helps in making decisions
People can build positive relationships with others
It increases self-esteem and self of self-worth
People can feel more motivated to do the things they enjoy
It helps people pursue their goals in life (educational, personal or professional)
People can think a lot clearer
People can make healthier choices (such as eating better or exercising)
It helps people shape the world they inhabit
People can relate to others on a deeper level

For example, 70% of people with depression experience sleep disturbances. Having stable mental health helps people sleep better and be more productive the next day.

Why should public initiatives target mental health in vulnerable communities? There is evidence that community interventions to promote mental health and social equity (from individuals to families) can be effective.

Examples of this in practice include health worker interventions, parenting intervention to reduce child abuse, a school-run cognitive behavioural therapy prevention program, and multi-sector collaborative care. These partnerships with communities and policy leaders will improve mental health and achieve a larger-scale of positive outcomes.

Mental Health Support: It Matters for Everyone

All in all, being able to take the right steps to enhancing mental health allows people of all backgrounds to experience a better quality of life.

From anxiety and depression treatments to behavioural therapies, equal access to mental health support helps everyone to be the best version of themselves.

Social workers with advanced qualifications like the Master of Social Work have the skills to provide culturally sensitive care and advocate for the appropriate resources.

The post Mental Health Support for Vulnerable Communities: Why It Matters appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

Consequences of Workplace Harassment

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 07 May 2018 09:59:10 +0000

Employees who experience sexual harassment by supervisors, colleagues or subordinates in the workplace may develop more severe symptoms of depression than employees who experience harassment from clients or customers. The research which involved 7603 employees from across 1041 organizations in Denmark was published in the open access journal BMC Public Health.

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Dr. Ida Elisabeth Huitfeldt Madsen, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark, the corresponding author said: “We were surprised to see the differences between the effects of harassment by clients or customers compared to harassment by other employees. This is not something that has been shown before. Previous research showed an increased risk of long-term sickness absence for employees exposed to sexual harassment by a colleague, supervisor or subordinate but an increased risk was not always found in association with sexual harassment by clients or customers.”

Dr. Madsen added: “Our findings suggest that sexual harassment from clients or customers have adverse consequences and should not be normalized or ignored. In this study, we found that sexual harassment from clients or customers, which is more prevalent than harassment from other employees, is associated with an increased level of depressive symptoms. This is important as some workplaces, for example in person-related work like care work or social work, may have an attitude that dealing with sexual harassment by clients or customers is ‘part of the job’.”

The researchers found that compared to employees not exposed to sexual harassment, employees harassed by clients or customers scored 2.05 points higher on the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) – a self-report mood questionnaire that generates a diagnosis of depression together with an estimate of symptom severity. Scores on the MDI range from 20 for minor depression to 30 or more for major depression. Employees harassed by a colleague, supervisor or subordinate scored 2.45 points higher compared to employees who had experienced sexual harassment by clients or customers.

When looking at clinical depression only, the researchers found no increased risk among those harassed by clients or customers compared to those not exposed to harassment, whereas those harassed by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates had a significantly higher risk of clinical depression.

Out of the 7603 employees who participated in this study, 2.4% (180) were exposed to sexual harassment by clients or customers, while 1.0% (79) was exposed to harassment by colleagues. Women were more likely to be exposed than men, with 169 out of 4116 women reporting sexual harassment by clients or customers compared to 11 out of 3487 men, and 48 women reporting sexual harassment by colleagues compared to 31 men. Participants employed in care workers were more often exposed to sexual harassment by clients or customers – 152 out of 2191 (6.9%) – than participants employed in other occupational groups such as education, service or industrial work.

The authors note that as the number of exposed individuals in this study was relatively low. This increases the uncertainty of the reported estimates, especially for men. The observed associations may thus largely be reflective of women’s experiences. The cross-sectional observational design of this study does not allow for conclusions about cause and effect. Also, the use of self-reported data that relied on participant recall may have led to sexual harassment being under- or over-reported.

Despite these limitations, the authors suggest that it is important to investigate sexual harassment from clients or customers and sexual harassment by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates as distinct types of harassment and to identify methods to prevent sexual harassment and the development of depressive symptoms.

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