“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
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....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1134076/full |
| _version_ | 1827936276203962368 |
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| author | Jason Mallonee Rosa Escalante Eden Hernandez Robles Christal Tucker |
| author_facet | Jason Mallonee Rosa Escalante Eden Hernandez Robles Christal Tucker |
| author_sort | Jason Mallonee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:07:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cefdc536b6ad4c099aba9f883896fb23 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:07:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-cefdc536b6ad4c099aba9f883896fb232023-06-01T04:30:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-06-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.11340761134076“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 regionJason Mallonee0Rosa Escalante1Eden Hernandez Robles2Christal Tucker3Department of Social Work, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, United StatesDepartment of Social Work, College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, United StatesWorden School of Social Service, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, TX, United StatesThe Kelly Center for Hunger Relief, El Paso, TX, United StatesBackgroundHispanic 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.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1134076/fullHispanicLatinomental healthhelp-seekingbarriersstigma |
| spellingShingle | Jason Mallonee Rosa Escalante Eden Hernandez Robles Christal Tucker “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 Hispanic Latino mental health help-seeking barriers stigma |
| title | “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 |
| title_full | “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 |
| title_fullStr | “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 |
| title_full_unstemmed | “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 |
| title_short | “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 |
| title_sort | 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 |
| topic | Hispanic Latino mental health help-seeking barriers stigma |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1134076/full |
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