Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Explore Social Determinants of Women's Mental Health and Barriers to Help-Seeking in Three Urban, Ethnically Diverse, Impoverished, and Underserved Communities

Depression and anxiety are significant mental health issues that affect urban, ethnically diverse, impoverished women disproportionately. This study sought to identify social determinants of mental health and barriers to help-seeking for this population. Using community based participatory research and focus groups, sixty-one Black, Hispanic, and White women identified economic, family, cultural, and neighborhood issues as perceived determinants of their depression/anxiety. They identified practical, psychosocial, and cultural barriers to their help-seeking behavior. These results can promote women's health by fostering an understanding of social factors as perceived determinants of depression/anxiety and shaping practice and policy initiatives that foster positive aggregate outcomes.