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Outpatient service use in minority-serving mental health programs

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Abstract

To evaluate the impact of participation in a minority-serving mental health program on patterns of service utilization, data on approximately 25,000 clients from a large, ethnically diverse mental health system were examined over three successive fiscal years. Clients seen in programs with higher rates of non-white participation received more outpatient care but less case management than clients seen elsewhere. The results were obtained after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables including treatment in an ethnic or language-matched dyad. Whether by selection and training of staff, administrative policy, operating style, program atmosphere or case-mix, minority-serving programs appear to promote distinctive patterns of utilization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research on the Organization and Financing of Care for the Severely Mentally Ill at the School of Social Welfare, University of California, USA

    Lonnie R. Snowden Ph.D. (Professor) & Teh-Wei Hu Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Lonnie R. Snowden Ph.D.
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  2. Teh-Wei Hu Ph.D.
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Additional information

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant #1 R01 MH46618-01.

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Snowden, L.R., Hu, TW. Outpatient service use in minority-serving mental health programs. Adm Policy Ment Health 24, 149–159 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02042486

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02042486

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