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Seminar Title: Living at the Intersections: Exploring Social and Structural Influences on Mental Health Service Use in Oklahoma’s Historical Black Towns
Seminar Summary: Understanding the mental health needs of rural Black communities requires attention to both lived experience and broader social-structural dynamics. This seminar will explore findings from a qualitative study conducted with residents of Oklahoma’s historical Black towns (n=15), focusing on the barriers, facilitators, and community-level needs and challenges that shape mental health service utilization. Through thematic analysis guided by an adapted health disparities framework, key insights emerged around cultural skepticism, geographic and financial limitations, and the role of faith and trusted community voices in motivating service use. The presentation will discuss how trust, cultural relevance, and compassionate crisis support emerged as key priorities from community voices. It will highlight strategies for promoting trust, tailoring services to cultural contexts, and improving crisis intervention resources through collaboration. Attendees will be invited to consider how these findings might inform community-based approaches and equity-centered practices in other rural or underserved settings.
Speaker: Brittany Hudson, PhD
The seminar will be recorded and made available via the QMCOP and QWG listservs.
Speaker bio: Brittany joined the HPRC as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in May 2025. She earned her PhD in Health Promotion from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, where her dissertation explored the experiences of rural Black Oklahomans, including those residing in Oklahoma’s historical All Black towns, as well as the perspectives of the providers who serve them. Her work emphasized the cultural, structural, and interpersonal factors that shape engagement with mental health services. She also holds a Master of Public Health in Policy and Management from Boston University.
Brittany’s research interests lie at the intersection of health equity, multilevel disparities, and community-engaged research. She applies qualitative methods and the Social Determinants of Health framework to examine how structural, cultural, and contextual factors influence health care access and utilization in historically underserved populations. At the HPRC, her work focuses on advancing equity-driven research to inform policies and interventions aimed at reducing cancer-related disparities across diverse communities.