Provider Perspectives on Latino Immigrants’ Access to Resources for Syndemic Health Issues

Abstract

Introduction: Latino immigrants to the United States experience disproportionate impacts from the syndemic formed by substance abuse, violence victimization, HIV/AIDS, and mental health (SAVAME). This study characterizes resource access for Latino immigrants living in Philadelphia, as perceived by staff at Latino-serving organizations. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of staff at key Latino-serving Philadelphia organizations assessed access to their organization and citywide access to each type of service (substance use, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence [DV], and mental health) for Latino immigrants. Descriptive statistics for organizational access indicators and citywide access scores across four syndemic domains (availability, accessibility, adequacy, and quality) and by syndemic condition were computed. Results: Organizational access and citywide access across HIV/AIDS (mean = 1.94, SD = 0.83), mental health (mean = 1.37, SD = 0.95), substance use (mean = 1.11, SD = 0.74), and DV (mean = 1.49, SD = 0.97) services were perceived as far from optimal. Domain scores were highest for accessibility (mean = 1.66, SD = 1.03), followed by quality (mean = 1.44, SD = 0.79), availability (mean = 1.41, SD = .81), and adequacy (mean = 1.24, SD = .75). Conclusion: Based on findings from a survey of staff working at Latino-serving organizations, this study highlights the lack of support and resources for Latino immigrants, in particular those related to mental health and substance use. Programs and interventions are needed to improve service delivery in Latino immigrant communities.

Provider Perceptions of Availability, Accessibility, and Adequacy of Health and Behavioral Services for Latino Immigrants: A Qualitative Study

“…The limited funding creates important challenges for Latino-serving organizations to hire, train and retain bilingual and bicultural staff to support Spanish-language, culturally tailored, trauma-informed substance use and mental health services for immigrant communities. The results resonate with and expand the LINKS data, which also showed lower availability scores for mental health and substance use services in Philadelphia compared to HIV/AIDS and domestic violence (Giordano et al, 2021).…”

“…These ndings are consistent with previous literature describing the SAVAME syndemic in Latino populations (González-Guarda et al, 2011;Martinez, 2020) in the U.S. and earlier calls for a syndemic approach in the prevention and treatment of these interrelated epidemics (Rosa Maria Gonzalez-Guarda, 2009). The providers's responses were also in line with ndings from the earlier LINKS survey, which showed that only 20% of the Latino-serving providers surveyed considered integration of SAVAME services in the city was good and 19% reported that their organizations routinely screened their clients for all four SAVAME factors (Giordano et al, 2021). Together, these results highlight a missed opportunity to identify and address concurrent SAVAME needs experienced by Latino immigrants presenting at Latino-serving organizations.…”

“…All interviewers were administered by a trained research assistant using a semi-structured interview guide developed by the authors, which included questions related to the key informant's organization, the need for SAVAME services in the Latino immigrant community, the availability, accessibility, and adequacy of services provided to the Latino immigrant community, and collaborations with other Latino-serving organizations. Questions were informed by previous research and ndings from the LINKS quantitative survey (Giordano et al, 2021). All interviews except for one were conducted in English; one was conducted in Spanish as per the key informant's preference.…”

Politics, Pandemics, and Trauma: Understanding and Addressing Latino Health Needs Through a Culturally-Informed Lens

“…Provision of services within local communities, as well as offering extended hours, are also organizational approaches found to improve access to care (139)(140)(141). In addition to helping services to be available from a logistical standpoint, organizations can foster an environment in which providers have opportunities to learn about cultural responsiveness, sources of resilience, and best practices with Latino communities (111,125,129,140). Within this context, organizations might provide formal trainings, either in person or online, to increase knowledge, cultural competence, and cultural humility related to serving Latino communities.…”

Provider perceptions of availability, accessibility, and adequacy of health and behavioral services for Latino immigrants in Philadelphia: a qualitative study

“…-Mexicans, Central Americans, South Americans) or U.S. citizens from Puerto Rico living in the city. The survey (N = 31, 72% response rate) showed that syndemic services for Latino immigrants in Philadelphia ranked low in terms of availability, accessibility, and adequacy [21]. These three factors are considered important dimensions within the general concept of access to services [22].…”