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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| A critical review of research on the mental health status of older African-Americans | | Author(s) | Terry L Mills, Carla D A Edwards |
| Journal title | Ageing & Society, vol 22, part 3, May 2002 |
| Pages | pp 273-304 |
| Keywords | Black people ; Depression ; Psychiatric treatment ; Research Reviews ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Social gerontologists have brought to the forefront the need to consider the impact of historical eras, cohort location and lifecourse development, when studying various dimensions of the ageing process. Unfortunately this type of theorising is still in its infancy, and has not been widely applied to the general population and all dimensions of health, let alone investigations into older African-Americans' mental health status. Virtually none of the empirical studies reviewed by the authors adequately address any relevant historical, biographical or structural factors. To understand contemporary manifestations of racial presumptions, there must be an appreciation of the historical antecedents. African-Americans live with the corrosive effects of a legacy of slavery that presumed black inferiority. The identification of salient factors of risk and resilience in this population is critical to developing effective interventions and mental health maintenance programmes. A greater understanding of this population's mental health needs can be developed by emphasising the socio-historical influences, which would pave the way for improved mental health services and a reduction in mental health disparities. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020812201 A |
| Classmark | TKE: ENR: LP: 3A:6KC: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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