ASIAN-AMERICANS DIFFERENTIAL PATTERNS OF UTILIZATION OF INPATIENT ANDOUTPATIENT PUBLIC MENTAL-HEALTH-SERVICES IN HAWAII

The major purpose of the present study was to examine Asian Americans' differential patterns of utilization of mental health services in Haw aii. It was proposed that an analysis of Asian Americans' differential patterns of utilization of inpatient and outpatient mental health ser vices may provide some clues to the reasons behind their overall patte rn of underutilization. More specifically, whereas it has been establi shed in many studies that Asian Americans tend to underutilize mental health services, the present research questions are directed at determ ining if Asian Americans tend to (a) underutilize inpatient mental hea lth services, (b) overutilize or use at their representative level out patient mental health services, and (c) exhibit different patterns in the sources of referral into the mental health system. Using a dataset from the state of Hawaii's Department of Health, mental health servic e utilization rates for three Asian-American groups (Chinese, Japanese , and Filipino) were compared to each other and to those of White Amer icans. It was found that there were ethnic subgroups (e.g., Chinese ve rsus Filipino) and intergroup differences (i.e., Asian versus White) i n the utilization of inpatient and outpatient mental health services a s well as in sources of referral into the mental health system. The cl inical and research implications of the findings are discussed.