Voices from Minority Youth on Help-Seeking and Barriers to Mental Health Services: Partnering with School-Based Health Centers

Abstract

Objective: Schools and school-based health centers (SBHCs) play an important role in reducing disparities in access to mental health treatment. However, there is a need to increase student engagement in school mental health services. This study sought to understand the perceptions of low-income minority youth on help-seeking and barriers to mental health services at SBHC sites.Design: Descriptive, qualitative study.Setting: A network of SBHCs, called Well­ness Centers, developed as part of a strate­gic plan to serve students and community members in under-resourced areas of a large urban school district.Participants and Procedures: We conduct­ed focus groups with 76 middle and high school students at nine SBHC sites through a community-academic partnered approach from January to May 2014. The focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, and major themes coded with Atlas.ti.5.1.Results: Students identified teachers as a primary source of support for mental health issues, followed by peers and mental health counselors. Students felt that trust and con­nection were vital for help-seeking. Barriers to using SBHCs included: embarrassment; fear of judgment; concerns about confiden­tiality; a sense that they should keep things inside; and lack of awareness.Conclusions: Despite the resources avail­able at SBHCs, students face barriers to help-seeking. SBHCs can help teachers and school staff gain awareness of mental health issues and services available to students. The students’ recommendations—making SBHCs more comfortable, raising mental health awareness, and bolstering connec­tions with school and SBHC staff—may improve engagement in mental health services at schools with SBHCs. Ethn Dis. 2018;28(Suppl 2):437-444; doi:10.18865/ed.28.S2.437