Claim:
Psychological diagnosis and/or treatment is influenced by social, cultural and ethical contexts
Rationale:
Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental health issue that can cause strong changes in a person’s mood. These can lead to depressive and hypomanic episodes. Hispanic people who live in impoverished areas usually go with disorder untreated, with those that do seek treatment unable to benefit from medical support.
Bipolar disorder is when people experience serious extremes of mood, to the point where their moods interfere with their daily life. (Timothy J. Legg, 2018). Bipolar disorder is not hereditary and has not been linked to a certain ethnic group. Hispanics with the disease are just less likely to seek medical assistance and live with Bipolar disorder untreated. Finding treatments that work for you requires perseverance (Timothy J. Legg, 2018). Hispanics that do find this help usually don’t benefit when compared to other ethnic groups. A sample taken compared that showed that Non-Hispanics had a lower chance of developing then the disorder, with another sample showing Hispanics were at higher risk of living with the disorder untreated despite seeking and receiving medical assistance. The data also showed that Hispanics were at higher risk of having manic episodes compared to other ethnic groups in the United States.
(To be amended)
Research Question:
Are Hispanics diagnosed with bipolar disorder less likely to benefit from medical support for their disorder than non-Hispanics?
Evidence:
Dr. Jodi M. Gonzalez is a psychiatrist at the University of Texas health science, working inside of their science center. In collaboration with seven other psychiatrists, Dr. Gonzalez conducted studies into the effects of treatment on people living with Bipolar Disorder (BPD). The objective was to compare the effectiveness of treatments on African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white patients with bipolar disorder.
Dr. Jodi M. Gonzalez is a psychiatrist at the University of Texas health science, working inside their science center. In collaboration with seven other psychiatrists, Dr. Gonzalez conducted studies into the effects of treatment on people living with Bipolar Disorder (BPD). The objective was to compare the effectiveness of treatments on African-American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white patients with bipolar disorder.
The tables data (refer to index) indicates that Hispanics who participated in the systematic treatment enhancement program for bipolar disorder on average did not benefit from its effects when compared to non-Hispanic whites and African Americans when tested. To further analyse their data, researchers used inferential statistics and found statistically significant results. Participants who were Hispanic and diagnosed with BPD were often sitting the lowest median income bracket, already suffering from other mental health disorders prior to being tested like depression and hypomania as well as many drug-related disorders that all affected the outcome of the results. A limitation of this evidence is that participants that received treatment were pre-exposed to things like drugs and other mental health conditions that could negatively affect the effects of provided treatment. This could skew the results recorded, giving an inaccurate representation of what happened. Most Hispanic patients with BPD who received treatment were already dealing with some sort of health-related problem. This limited the overall effectiveness of treatment for clients receiving treatment; the research collected was still statistically significant.
Further research into BPD was conducted by Dr. Jodi M. Gonzalez into the treatment of people with bipolar disorder but separating them this time by psychotic symptoms at baseline.
The data from table 2 (refer to index) shows the total response and recovery rate for different racial-ethnic groups similarly to table 1 there was an identifiable trend Hispanics and African Americans displaying longer times to respond when compared to non-Hispanics and whites. Similarly to table 1, the socio-economic position of these ethnic groups, as well as their previous medical health conditions, are not taken into account negatively affecting the validity of the test and limiting the data. Without previous data, no conclusion can be drawn solely from this. The validity and reliability can also be questioned as the data collected do not provide a p-value, implying that there would be no statistical significance in the data. “This data also included a focus on previous mental health issues developed prior to testing with Hispanics still showing a worse rate of treatment of success when compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts. Just like the data provided in table 1, there are not as many considerations for things prior to taking medication.
Finally table 3 consists of data collected by Stephanie Salcedo who analysed the medication usage of people based on ethnicity, showing that Hispanics usage of prescribed medicine and
Conclusion:
The research collected by Dr. Jodi M. Gonzalez supports the evidence collected by Stephanie Salcedo and Renato D. Alarcon. The evidence found by these three showed a strong correlation in the effects of treatment for Hispanics living with bipolar disorder. Additionally, the data found by Dr. Jodi M. Gonzalez and Stephanie Salcedo data observed the disparities, both of their tests had statistical significance with Dr. Jodi M. Gonzalez systematic treatment enhancement program having a p-value of p<.003 and Stephanie Salcedo’s medication usage and service utilization characteristics by ethnicity with a p-value of p<.05, suggesting that there was a strong correlation between Hispanics who received treatment but did not benefit from it. The findings from all three doctors suggest that Hispanics that do seek treatment regardless of socio-economic factors and regardless of previous mental health issues will not benefit from it when compared to non-Hispanics.
This research and evidence would suggest that Hispanics are less likely to benefit from medical treatment when compared to non -Hispanics and African Americans.
Evaluation:
- Through extrapolation we see that if Hispanics in a
Index
Table 1)
Table 2)
Table 3)