Creating Culturally Competent and Responsive Mental Health Services: A Case Study Among the Amish Population of Geauga County, Ohio

• Published in: The journal of behavioral health services & research 2018-10, Vol.45 (4), p.627-639
• Main Authors: Miller-Fellows, Sarah C., Adams, Jim, Korbin, Jill E., Greksa, Lawrence P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access; Amish - psychology; Amish - statistics & numerical data; Amish culture; Case reports; Case studies; Community; Community and Environmental Psychology; Community mental health services; Competence; Cultural competence; Cultural Competency; Cultural differences; Databases, Factual; Health care access; Health Informatics; Health problems; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Health Psychology; Health services; Health Services Accessibility - economics; Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data; Health Services Needs and Demand; Health services utilization; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Leadership; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - therapy; Mental health; Mental health care; Mental health services; Mental Health Services - economics; Mental Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Ohio - epidemiology; Organizational Case Studies; Population studies; Psychiatry; Public Health; Rural areas; Rural communities; Rural Population
• ISSN: 1094-3412; 1556-3308
• DOI: 10.1007/s11414-018-9612-0

Providing effective mental health services requires knowledge about and cultural competence across a wide array of beliefs and practices. This study provides an example of a successful project to improve public mental health service delivery in an Amish community. County boards of mental health in a rural area of Northeast Ohio contacted researchers in 1998 to provide assistance in reaching the Amish community because of a concern that mental health services were not being utilized by the Amish population. Following meetings with community leaders, changes were made to improve the relationships of service providers and public funding agencies with the local Amish community, disseminate information about mental health concerns and services, and improve accessibility to mental health services. In 2013, a follow-up analysis of records found a 320% increase in public mental health service utilization by the Amish community within the first five years after these changes were made.