The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Session: The Role of the Social Worker In Eliminating Health Disparities
3071.0: Monday, November 11, 2002: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Oral
The Role of the Social Worker In Eliminating Health Disparities
Public health social workers play an instrumental role in reducing the impact of depression among African Americans. African Americans represent the largest minority group in the United States. The literature suggests that they face a range of cultural and psychological realities that challenge, facilitate, and undermine full participation in society. The pressure to deny emotional difficulties in the presence of oppressive conditions, such as poverty, underemployment, lack of access to health care, or poor housing, fosters the impetus for understanding the complexities of mental health disparities. Past epidemiologic research shows diagnosed depression cases are lower among African Americans than European Americans. Studies also show that culture is a catalyst for shaping perceptions of experiences, responses to stress, and the expression of symptoms. Six authors explore social processes related to depressive symptoms and DSM mood disorders.
Learning Objectives: The session participants will be able to: 1) describe the socio-demographic and social correlates related to the prevalence of depressive symptoms; 2) articulate African American idioms of distress generated in response to epidemiologic case-finding items such as sad, blue, and depressed; 3) describe evidence consistent with the misdiagnosis of African Americans; 4) articulate the ways that cultural issues influence symptom attribution in the clinical context; 5) describe findings on how black and white clinicians use situational attributions in the diagnostic process and 6) describe a culturally responsive intervention.
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.
Presider(s):Delois Dilworth-Berry, MSW, ACSW, LCSW
8:30 AMAfrican Americans and depression: Prevalence rates and correlates to symptoms
Julia F. Hastings, MSW, PhD
8:45 AMAre symptom attributions made similarly across races in DSM diagnoses using a semi-structured instrument?
Steven J. Trierweiler, PhD
9:00 AMRacial differences in DSM diagnosis using a semi-structured instrument: The importance of clinical judgment in the (mis)diagnosis of African Americans
Harold Neighbors, PhD
9:15 AMUnlocking the language of mental health: Using cognitive interviewing to examine the language of depression
Briggett C Ford, ACSW, MPH, PhD
9:30 AMRace, situational attributions, and clinicians: Diagnostic decisions of schizophrenic type disorders and mood type disorders
Jordana Muroff, MSW
9:45 AMIntervening with Black women at-risk of depression: An innovative psycho-educational group work approach
Lani V. Jones, PhD, LICSW
Organized by:Social Work
Endorsed by:Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of APHA; Community Health Planning and Policy Development; Latino Caucus; Public Health Nursing; School Health Education and Services; Socialist Caucus
CE Credits:Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work

The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA