Asking for Help: A Qualitative Study of Barriers to Help Seeking in the Private Sector

Objectives: Help-seeking patterns in people experiencing material hardships are poorly understood. This study examines variations in patterns of help seeking among people experiencing material hardships who do, and do not, seek help from nonprofit organizations. Method: The qualitative research design included 70 in-depth, semistructured interviews with New York City residents experiencing financial hardship. Participants (ages 18-651) ranged from welfare-reliant individuals to low-wage workers ineligible for basic government aid. Results: Study findings reveal ways in which the cognitive and emotional burdens of living with scarcity and hardship make barriers to help seeking, such as stigma and a lack of knowledge, more formidable. We introduce and describe a new element called survival fatigue: cognitive weariness and psychological exhaustion that makes help seeking more difficult. Conclusions: Findings suggest that nonprofit organizations should increase community outreach activities, reduce application burdens by simplifying application procedures and eligibility requirements, and offer a wider range of assistance to fill the gap between people's incomes and their basic needs.