“Something very taboo”: a qualitative exploration of beliefs, barriers, and recommendations for improving mental health care and access for Hispanic adults in the Paso del Norte U.S.-Mexico border region

Frontiers in Public Health

Public Health

Rosa Escalante¹  Jason Mallonee¹  Christal Tucker²  Eden Hernandez Robles³ 

[1] Department of Social Work, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, United States;The Kelly Center for Hunger Relief, El Paso, TX, United States;Worden School of Social Service, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, TX, United States;

关键词: Hispanic;    Latino;    mental health;    help-seeking;    barriers;    stigma;    U.S.-Mexico border region;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2023.1134076

 received in 2022-12-29, accepted in 2023-05-15,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHispanic adults with mental health conditions in the United States experience disproportionate access to and utilization of professional mental health treatment. This is believed to be in part due to systemic barriers and challenges, difficulty accessing care, cultural factors, and stigma. Studies to date have failed to examine these specific factors within the unique context of the Paso del Norte U.S.-Mexico border region.MethodsFor this study, 25 Hispanic adults identifying primarily of Mexican descent participated in four focus groups exploring these topics. Three groups were facilitated in Spanish and one group in both English and Spanish. Focus groups followed a semi-structured format eliciting perspectives on mental health and mental illness, help-seeking, barriers and facilitators of help-seeking and treatment access, and recommendations for mental health agencies and providers.ResultsQualitative data analysis yielded the following themes: understanding of mental health and help-seeking; barriers to accessing care; mental health treatment facilitators; and recommendations for agencies, providers, and researchers.ConclusionFindings from this study support the need for innovative mental health engagement strategies to reduce stigma, increase understanding of mental health, foster support systems, reduce individual and systemic barriers to seeking and accessing care, and to continue to engage communities in mental health outreach and research.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Mallonee, Escalante, Robles and Tucker.