Mental health needs assessment of off-reservation American Indian people in Northern Arizona

Native Americans For Community Action, Inc. (NACA) implemented a community- wide mental health needs assessment in Northern Arizona using bilingual int erviewers recruited from the local community A total of 235 people: 156 adu lts, 28 adolescents and parents of 51 children were interviewed File data f rom the NACA Family Health Center was also analyzed. Thirty-eight percent ( 38%) of adults reported problems with depression, 27% reported completed or attempted suicide among family members, 31% had problems with drugs or alc ohol, and 25% reported problems with physical abuse. Sixty-five percent (65 %) of those surveyed never sought professional help. A majority of responde nts said that mental health services were needed in their community.