INDIVIDUAL
Beliefs About Health Services
​Certain beliefs about health services can impact whether services are implemented and delivered successfully, and whether women seek help and access services. These beliefs include:​
-
Services only offer medication
-
Services are stretched​
-
Services are too complicated
-
No trust in health services
Services only offer medication
Believing health services will only offer medication for perinatal mental illness may act as a barrier to perinatal mental health care​.​
​
"I knew she would just write me a prescription and send me away…that wasn’t what I wanted​.​"
​
Evidence level: Low​
​
​Parts of the care pathway affected: Deciding to consult, Assessment, Deciding to disclose, Access to treatment, Provision of optimal treatment.​​
​
Key literature: ​
Services Are Too Complicated
Believing health services are too complicated may act as a barrier to perinatal mental health care​
​
"Consistently identified barriers to care for immigrant women were: ‘not understanding the health-care system’”
​
​Evidence level: Low​
​
​Parts of the care pathway affected: Deciding to consult, Access to treatment​.
​
​​Key literature: ​
Services Are Stretched
Believing perinatal mental health services are too stretched and therefore will be unable to help, may act as a barrier to perinatal mental health care.​​
​
"I think it was just that they were really busy and just didn’t really have enough time for everybody with their kids".​
​
​Evidence level: Low​
​
​Parts of the care pathway affected: Deciding to consult, Deciding to disclose​.
​
​Key literature: ​
No trust in health services
Having little trust in health services may act as a barrier to perinatal mental health care​
​
"The personal barriers described were mistrust, [and] fear of mental health service systems".
​
​Evidence level: Low​
​
​Parts of the care pathway affected: Access to treatment​
​
​Key literature: ​