Barriers and Promoters of Mental Health Services Utilization in a Latino Context: A Literature Review and Recommendations from an Ecosystems Perspective

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the problems of disparities in mental health service utilization in the Latino population in the United States. It begins with an overview of the Latino population within the United States, an exploration of the diversity within this group, and shared cultural values and traits with a particular focus on the problems of Latino poverty. A review of the literature follows, including identified barriers to and promoters of mental health services utilization. These are contextualized in a Latino perspective using an ecosystems framework. Recommendations are made for future practice, research, and policy regarding mental health and mental health services utilization in the Latino community.

KEYWORDS:

• Latino
• mental health
• utilization
• ecosystem

Notes

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Grant 5T32MH014623-24. The author thanks Robert Fullilove, Ellen Lukens, and Diane Wyant for their assistance with this project.