"Just be straight with me:" an exploration of Black patient experiences in initial mental health encounters.

The objective is to explore the initial interpersonal interactions between Black patients and their non-Black mental health providers and to better understand how patients come to describe the encounter as good (favorable) or poor (unfavorable). A framework inclusive of 5 specific elements is introduced that maps the patient's conceptualization process about how judgments are made about the encounter. Owing to the naturalistic and exploratory nature of the study, a research hypothesis was not established. Instead, we observed how patients scanned the interaction with the provider, made assessments about their provider, and determined whether their experience was positive or negative. The implications of these findings will help to improve the interactions in mental health settings between minority patients and their providers. PMID: 21977937 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Source: The American journal of Orthopsychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research