Mental Health Service Needs of a Latino Population: A Community-Based Participatory Research Project

Abstract

Community-based participatory research bridges the gap between academic researchers and the real-life issues of communities and offers promise for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care. The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to identify factors that affect access, use, and perception of mental health services by a Latino population at individual, organizational, and community levels. Individual level factors included health beliefs about mental illness and care, suspicions of providers, financial concerns, and culturally determined gender roles. Organizational factors included problems with access to care related to cost, lack of bilingual providers, and culturally competent care; and community level factors included distance between resources and the need for services to be provided in community sites. Immigration status and acculturation were identified as factors at all levels.

Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Services in the Latino/a Community: A Qualitative Analysis

“…Additionally, Latinos who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds are at higher risk for encountering a number of challenges in utilizing MHS (Cabassa et al, 2006;Kouyoumdijian et al, 2003;Shattell, Hamilton, Starr, Jenkins, Hinderliter, 2008;Sue & Sue, 2003). These include time, affordability and transportation limitations (Pumariega, Glover, Holzer, & Nguyen, 1998).…”

Review: Community-Based Participatory Research Approach to Address Mental Health in Minority Populations

“…In this category, there were four primary foci: (1) clients and community perception of mental health understanding, coping, needs, access and barriers (Maar et al 2009;Roberts et al 2008;Shattell et al 2008), including acceptability of mental health services delivered in primary care (Roberts et al 2008) and strategies, strengths and challenges related to collaborative Aboriginal mental health care in rural area (Maar et al 2009); (2) assessment of daily discrimination in relation to depression, depressive symptoms and self-rated general health (Schulz et al 2006) and perceptions, responses and needs regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) (Shoultz et al 2010); (3) assessment of school systems (e.g., teacher-assistance teams, organizational dynamics) that could be used to create an intervention to improve behavioral and academic functioning of minority students (Mulvaney-Day et al 2006).…”

Stress and Depression Among Latina Women in Rural Southeastern North Carolina

“…Specifically, depression is more prevalent among Latina women than in Latino men (Alegria, et al, 2007). Also, Latinas are more likely than other women to suffer from depression and are less likely to receive mental health support than Caucasian or African American women (Shattell, Hamilton, Starr, Jenkins, & Hinderliter, 2008). However, there is little research that specifically addresses stress and depression among Latina women in rural communities.…”