Evaluating Race-Related Lived Experiences in BIPOC Youth Participating in a Telehealth Intensive Outpatient Program

Background. Youth mental health is a significant issue in the United States; especially for young adults and adolescents who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). BIPOC youth traditionally face greater barriers to care, such as lower insurance coverage and provider bias, and historically have suffered poorer health outcomes compared to their non-BIPOC counterparts. To understand how to most effectively help BIPOC youth with mental health issues, more data is needed. However, research on BIPOC mental health and mental healthcare programming is lacking. This study aims to better understand the needs and race-related lived experiences of BIPOC youth in a virtual intensive outpatient setting in order to improve programming curriculum and better meet the specific needs of BIPOC patients.
Methods. A survey with four measures–general belongingness, racial trauma, race-related discrimination, and internalized mental health stigma–was administered to 24 individuals in Charlie Health’s (a company offering virtual intensive outpatient programming for youth) young adult and adolescent BIPOC support groups. Data collected in this survey was compared against results in the general population, obtained from the literature.
Results. The findings suggest that BIPOC youth participating in IOP support groups report significantly lower levels of belongingness, and higher levels of racial trauma and race-related discrimination relative to their peers in other contexts, as seen in the literature. Results from the internalized stigma of mental illness measure were nonsignificant.
Conclusions. Research that improves understanding of BIPOC patient race-related experiences is important to enhance the quality of care provided to them. BIPOC youth in intensive mental healthcare treatment settings like Charlie Health could benefit from programming specific to their race-related lived experiences. Based on the results of this study, BIPOC programming curriculum could be more effective with the augmentation of certain topics, like belongingness in society and race-related discrimination, as well as a greater focus on unpacking racial trauma. Incorporating elements from Charlie Health’s BIPOC program–such as cultural competency training in clinicians–would also be beneficial. Further research on mental health stigma and outcomes in this population is necessary in order to make definitive curricular
recommendations.