Article Critique
Directions: For this assignment, you will select and critique one article from a popular
media source (e.g., newspaper, magazine, news journal, etc.) that provides information
regarding a health disparity within a population group and complete the questions below.
Please make sure to use complete sentences when answering each question. Make sure the
health disparity is different from your research assignment. In addition, the article must
have been published within the last 2 years.
Article Critique
- Reference and link of the article: McGinty, E. E., Goldman, H. H., Pescosolido,
B., & Barry, C. L. (2015). Portraying mental illness and drug addiction as treatable health
conditions: effects of a randomized experiment on stigma and discrimination. Social Science &
Medicine, 126, 7 - The article highlights the health disparity of persons with mental illness or mental
disorders in the society. - Information in the article is very indispensable to the society. People who have
been suffering from the illnesses without coming out are advised to seek medical attention.
Sharing such an article in the news really is a positive move of encouraging those with mental
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health disorders that they can become well again. Furthermore, people who stay with patients
of mental illness will grasp more on how to handle them and encourage them to seek medical
attention. The article has also outlined some organizations that are aiming at eradicating
disparity of mental illness in the community.
- The article has pointed out different factors that have contributed to health
disparity. One is due to poverty in the family as it increases stress and mental health problems
which cause depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It can also be due to lack of access
to mental health professionals to take care of the conditions. Again, if health care providers are
not trained to recognize and treat the population they serve, it would lead to high dropout rates
of care. Finally, racism and discrimination also contributed to mental health disparity since
people with the disorder would not freely come out to seek medical attention. - The health disparity clearly affects health outcomes according to the article.
People of color had the impression of reporting more dissatisfaction with the care. This,
therefore, led to a big number of dropouts as they felt they were not being discerned by the
health care providers. - The article makes recommendations and also suggests resources that could help
community and people with mental health disparity. The society recommends construction of
the Office of Behavioral Health Equity to offer Affordable Care Act, address disparities and
elevate quality care for all. The author moreover, suggests the building of more culturally
competent care providers into the field too. The office of Behavioral Health Equity was started
due to Affordable Care Act so as to deal with disparities and promote quality care for all. There
also should be a program to train practitioners in mental health to offer services to the
community. Moreover, training and employing more culturally competent providers into the
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field could also help counter disparities in mental health. The article also recommended that
peer mentors who have experienced mental health problems are good and valuable sources of
support to address workforce shortage ( McGinty et al., 2015). In addition, community-based
organizations need to be started so as to educate the society on repercussions of disparity and
discrimination on those with mental disorders. The encouragement of patients not to be afraid
and take the situation positive is the core task to get rid of mental health disparities in future.
- The article was well written with its main points being laid out to the public
openly. The article talked about the effects and recommendations of mental health disparity
among minorities. The article has given a story of a lady who growing up, has dealt with a
depressive disorder. She first felt stigmatized and always felt she was the only one and did not
have anyone to turn to. Through her medication, she has stood out to advocate against stigma
and disparities for minorities with mental illnesses. Her zeal in the article is very evident and
this really explains why the article was well written. - The article has given all meaningful information the entire public would want to
know about mental health disparity. It began with the case of an individual who has suffered
from a mental disorder and she thought she was the only one of color having the disorder but
she realized later she was not alone. The article has also pointed out to the public some causes
of the disorder and elements that contribute to the disparity. It also has outlined the
recommendations to get rid of mental illness stigma and health disparity. The article also dealt
with the effects of disparity and concluded by pointing out proposals to curb disparity. Clearly,
I confirm that the article provided very pertinent information to the public. - The author of the article has done her very best and covered disparity almost
perfectly. However, the author would have divided the effects of disparity to economic, social
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and political so as to enhance and give a clear understanding of the disparity. The author would
also have advised the government to expand universities and build more colleges to train
professionals who would handle the matter and give jobs to more psychiatrists. The author
would have moreover recommended the Vargas team to get to the interior people who always
fear being discriminated and cheer them up to take the situation as any other disease or illness
that can be cured (McGinty, et al. 2015).
References:
McGinty, E. E., Goldman, H. H., Pescosolido, B., & Barry, C. L. (2015). Portraying mental
illness and drug addiction as treatable health conditions: effects of a randomized
experiment on stigma and discrimination. Social Science & Medicine, 126, 73-85.