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Filipino Mental Health Culture Paper

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Introduction “Culture comprises of shared beliefs values, and practices that guide a group’s members in patterned ways of thinking and acting. Culture can also be viewed as a blueprint for guiding actions that impact care, health, and well-being” (Leininger & McFarland, 2006). “Culture is more than ethnicity and social norms; it includes religious, geographic, socio-economic, occupational, ability-or disability-related, and sexual orientation-related beliefs and behaviors. Each group has cultural beliefs, values, and practices that guide its members in ways of thinking and acting. Cultural norms help members of the group make sense of the world around them and make decisions about appropriate ways to relate and behave. Because …show more content…

Although the need for psychiatric treatment exists, Filipino Americans were found to underutilize public outpatient mental health services (Baello & Mori, 2007). “It would seem that Filipino Americans, perceived as the most westernized of the Asian Americans, would be more apt to adapt to the American culture. However, they remain among the most mislabeled and culturally marginalized of the Asian Americans. Increased time of residence in the United States may not necessarily reflect an increase in the adoption of American lifestyle and culture” (Sanchez & Gaw, 2007) The Philippines have a National Mental Health Policy. There is no mental health legislation and the laws that govern the provision of mental health services are contained in
Running Head: FILIPINO MENTAL HEALTH CULTURE PAPER 5 various parts of written laws such as Penal Code, Magna Carta for Disabled Person, Family Code, and the Dangerous Drug Act. The country spends about 5% of the total health budget on mental health and substantial portions of it are spent on the operation and maintenance of mental hospitals. The new social insurance scheme covers mental disorders but is limited to acute inpatient care. Psychotropic medications are available in

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