Telephone counseling: A comparison of Arab and Jewish Israeli usage

Arab Israeli callers to an Israeli telephone counseling service are analyzed, comparing them with Jewish Israeli callers, in order to better understand Arab mental health utilization and needs. A questionnaire was used for a sample of 7000 Jewish and 344 Arab callers. Arab callers complained of inter-personal and family problems, and the Jewish sample personal and mental health problems. The discussion relates these to ethno-cultural gender construction, health care utilization, client etiology and family and community structures. The significance for programs and clinical services is considered.