Through first-person accounts, the report “Mental Health:Context Matters," the latest from the Academy’s “City Voices: New Yorkers on Health” study series, reveals the myriad of ways that complex factors contribute to mental illness—especially among lower-income New York City residents. In nearly half of the study’s focus groups, participants identified mental health problems as among the most pressing health issues in their neighborhood.
“`Mental Health: Context Matters’ sheds light on the role the broader determinants of health play in depression, anxiety disorders, substance use, and other mental health issues,” says Jo Ivey Boufford, M.D., President of the Academy. “The New Yorkers who shared their experiences with us are telling us that in addition to access to mental health care, they need policies that focus on healthier communities, better housing, employment opportunities, protecting young people, and safer streets.” The report is based on a rare collection of personal narratives taken from an extensive and unique community needs assessment (CNA), conducted by the researchers in the Academy’s Institute for Urban Health.
"While psychological distress knows no ethnic, geographic or economic boundary, the Academy’s work underscores the acute behavioral and associated physical health challenges, which disproportionally affect low-income New Yorkers,” says leading mental health advocate First Lady Chirlane McCray. “This report helps us better understand the underlying causes of the troubling disparities in mental health and in New Yorkers’ access to care. We must now use these insights to design policy and direct resources to address not only the symptoms of mental illness, but the punishing environments in which they are created.”
The complete CNA, “City Voices: New Yorkers on Health,” spans a wide range of health issues, from aging and battling diabetes and depression, to transgender health access, disparities, and the challenges faced by immigrant communities. In these reports New Yorkers from a range of communities, rather than experts and policy makers, tell their stories about the stresses that traumatize their children and greatly impact quality of life.
“People suffer from trauma … You walk down a block on a Saturday afternoon and nothing’s going on until you turn a corner and get shot.”-Study participant. “Our research shows neighborhoods where residents endure high-levels of unemployment and struggle to find and keep affordable housing are at the center of mental health problems for many city residents,” says Maya Scherer, MPH, lead author of the report. “Mental Health: Context Matters” also highlights the need to help people overcome negative ideas about treating depression and other mental health issues. “Stigma remains an enormous barrier to seeking care. From the data, it seems that a cultural shift in attitudes toward mental health is necessary in order for people to fully access the services they need,” Scherer says.
“People don’t tell [how they feel] because they fear that they will be ridiculed and talked about.”-Study participant
The Academy’s unique approach to research, commitment to engaging communities, expansive knowledge of New York City, and long-standing commitment to urban health were all key to the “City Voices: New Yorkers on Health“ team’s ability to meaningfully communicate with 3,000 New Yorkers, across a range of incomes, neighborhoods, ethnic and racial groups for the report series. Representatives of more than 60 leading community-based organizations and city government also contributed to the series.
About the Academy The New York Academy of Medicine advances solutions that promote the health and wellbeing of people in cities worldwide. Established in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine continues to address the health challenges facing New York City and the world’s rapidly growing urban populations. We accomplish this through our Institute for Urban Health, home of interdisciplinary research, evaluation, policy and program initiatives; our world class historical medical library and its public programming in history, the humanities and the arts; and our Fellows program, a network of more than 2,000 experts elected by their peers from across the professions affecting health. Our current priorities are healthy aging, disease prevention, and eliminating health disparities.
About the Institute for Urban Health The Academy’s Institute for Urban Health brings together our expert professional staff to address the urgent health needs of rapidly growing urban environments. Focusing on our priority areas—healthy aging, prevention, and eliminating health disparities—we pursue multidimensional answers that consider the social, physical, and economic conditions that impact the health of individuals and the communities in which they live. The Institute bridges the landscape of competing ideas by generating new knowledge through innovative research and evaluation, and by translating data and debate into decisive action—and concrete policy. The Academy’s Institute houses the Center for Health Policy and Programs as well as three urban health research centers—the Center for Cognitive Studies in Medicine & Public Health, the Center for Health Innovation, and the Center for Evaluation and Applied Research.
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