CAMINO: Integrating context in the mental health assessment of immigrant Latinos.

Abstract

People from Central and South America; Mexico; and the islands of Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico represent a growing number of consumers accessing public sector behavioral health services in the United States. Despite perceived commonalities such as a shared language and cultural values, it is essential to recognize the rich diversity inherent to Latino communities and the complexities associated with each individual's migration narrative. The authors propose CAMINO, a mnemonic tool designed to facilitate the inquiry of contextual data significant to pre-and postmigration experiences. The task of gathering relevant information regarding community and family supports (C), acculturative stress (A), migration history (M), idioms of distress and resilience (I), native language and preferences (N), and origin (O) may seem intuitive when working with immigrant populations, yet it is often challenging and risks being overlooked in real-world clinical practice. Recommended questions to inform the mental health assessment process and implications for community-based providers are presented. Public Significance StatementImmigration from Latin American countries to the United States is a timely topic of conversation with implications for professional practice. Latin American immigrants presenting in community mental health settings bring a unique narrative that reflects cultural strengths and vulnerabilities. Attention among providers to the contextual factors that impact the lives of Latino immigrants is essential and professionally responsible in our shared efforts to offer culturally responsive care.

Immigration, settlement process and mental health challenges of immigrants/ refugees: Alternative care thinking

“…The available evidence supports the link between migration and mental health challenges. [7][8][9][10]34] Building on Newbold's [35 p1366] contention that "the foreign-born is at increasingly greater rate of experiencing poor health relative to the native born over time", Dr. Kwame McKenzie's (psychiatrist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada; Presentation title: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's work -Round Table #6 ) presentation discussed how the "healthy immigrant" effect is lost over time among immigrants in Canada. While only 4% of immigrants arrive in Canada with long-term diseases or chronic illness compared to 9% of Canadian-born individuals, seven years post-arrival, immigrants are in worse health compared to the general population.…”

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Psychiatry Resident Prescribing: a Quality Improvement Education Intervention to Address Health Equity

“…Third, racial/ethnic differences in prescribing highlight the importance of the cultural formulation [22]. Eliciting individual contextual factors including narratives of distress and resilience and community support when formulating diagnoses and treatment plans can help avoid the harms of racial and ethnic stereotyping [23]. In particular, assessment of structural vulnerability-or the position within social hierarchies (e.g., socioeconomic, racial, cultural) [24]-of minoritized patients can inform understandings of susceptibility to psychotic disorders within a stress reactivity model.…”

Promotion of Resilience in Migrants: A Systematic Review of Study and Psychosocial Intervention

“…In few studies, broader descriptions to vast geopolitical areas were made and, then, the countries of origin were deeper highlighted [60,[72][73][74][75].…”

“…In the second group of articles a growing consensus emerged that considers resilience and coping or personality trait as closely related [ [85] and through some coping abilities, such as strength, courage and perseverance that characterise an individual during change [74].…”