Perceived barriers to mental health treatment among men enrolled in a responsible fatherhood program

ABSTRACT

Low-income men may experience elevated risk for mental health concerns and be less likely to seek treatment; this may be due in part to perceived barriers to accessing and receiving treatment. Men who enrolled in a community based responsible fatherhood program self-identified their health and mental health conditions. Although participants reported serious health conditions at rates consistent with the general population, we found higher than expected rates of depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions and explored perceived barriers to mental health treatment among this sample. Findings suggest that low income men face a variety of perceived psychosocial and structural barriers impacting access to and compliance with mental health treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Access to mental health treatment
• fathers
• men
• mental health

Acknowledgement

Thanks to the staff at the Suffolk County Fatherhood Initiative Romarie McCue, Diane Saunders, Nancy Medina, Alfredo Rosario, Bruce Petrucci, Michael Pirozzi, and Howard Treadwell-Smith for their dedicated service to fathers and families. Special thanks to our research staff: Kevin Yim, Meagyn Mulleri, and Ekta Kohli.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Programs, Grant: 90FK0104. Any opinions and findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. Thanks to the staff at the Suffolk County Fatherhood Initiative Romarie McCue, Diane Saunders, Nancy Medina, Alfredo Rosario, Bruce Petrucci, Michael Pirozzi, and Howard Treadwell-Smith for their dedicated service to fathers and families. Special thanks to our research staff: Kevin Yim and Ekta Kohli.