TY - JOUR
T1 - Mental Health Needs of an Emerging Latino Community
AU - Bucay-Harari, Linda
AU - Page, Kathleen R.
AU - Krawczyk, Noa
AU - Robles, Yvonne P.
AU - Castillo-Salgado, Carlos
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr. Barbara Cook, medical director of The Access Partnership program, for her support during the course of this research. Noa Krawczyk received support from the National Institute of Drug Abuse Training Grant T32-DA007293 (PI: Renee Johnson).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/7/1
Y1 - 2020/7/1
N2 - Over the last decade, Baltimore has become a non-traditional sanctuary city, receiving an unprecedented influx of Latino immigrants, mostly from Central America’s Northern Triangle, who are often fleeing violence in their home countries. This study explored the nature and frequency of healthcare utilization for mental health problems among uninsured/uninsurable Latinos who received outpatient care between 2012 and 2015 through an academic hospital-affiliated program that covers primary and specialty services to uninsured patients without regard to documentation status. Encounters for mental health disorders were the most common category, accounting for 14.88% of all visits. Mood (78%) and anxiety disorders (16%) were the most prevalent mental health diagnoses. The most frequent reason to seek care was symptom, signs, and ill-defined conditions (37.47%), and within this subgroup, pain was the leading cause of seeking care (88%), which may indicate high rates of somatization of mental health distress. This study presents a unique opportunity to explore the burden and nature of mental health needs among a population for which healthcare information is rarely attainable and highlights the need for culturally competent screening mechanisms and interventions to address the stressors faced by emergent communities.
AB - Over the last decade, Baltimore has become a non-traditional sanctuary city, receiving an unprecedented influx of Latino immigrants, mostly from Central America’s Northern Triangle, who are often fleeing violence in their home countries. This study explored the nature and frequency of healthcare utilization for mental health problems among uninsured/uninsurable Latinos who received outpatient care between 2012 and 2015 through an academic hospital-affiliated program that covers primary and specialty services to uninsured patients without regard to documentation status. Encounters for mental health disorders were the most common category, accounting for 14.88% of all visits. Mood (78%) and anxiety disorders (16%) were the most prevalent mental health diagnoses. The most frequent reason to seek care was symptom, signs, and ill-defined conditions (37.47%), and within this subgroup, pain was the leading cause of seeking care (88%), which may indicate high rates of somatization of mental health distress. This study presents a unique opportunity to explore the burden and nature of mental health needs among a population for which healthcare information is rarely attainable and highlights the need for culturally competent screening mechanisms and interventions to address the stressors faced by emergent communities.
KW - Immigrant community
KW - Latino health
KW - Mental health
KW - Migration
KW - Social health inequities
KW - Undocumented immigrant
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U2 - 10.1007/s11414-020-09688-3
DO - 10.1007/s11414-020-09688-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 32002728
AN - SCOPUS:85078862816
VL - 47
SP - 388
EP - 398
JO - Journal of Mental Health Administration
JF - Journal of Mental Health Administration
SN - 1094-3412
IS - 3
ER -