Crisis de Nuestro Bienestar: A Report on Latino Mental Health in Oregon
OCHA - Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs
Summary
Why this work is important for all Oregonians
“Our families are, at this time in our history, experiencing tremendous stress loads and tremendous public persecution. This, coupled with geographic and linguistic isolation and a dearth of Latino/a/x mental health providers, threatens to create the perfect mental health storm in our community.”
I. The Latino/a/x population in Oregon is large and growing; 23% of youth enrolled in Oregon public schools are Latino/a/x. Ensuring access and culturally competent care for this large and growing population is synonymous with ensuring Oregonians’ future well- being and success.
II. Schools are particularly robust access points for Latino/a/x rural youth and their families. Analyses of OHA quantitative data from 1983–2013 find that Oregon’s Latino/a/x youth are far more likely than the general population (53% compared to 30%) to access mental health from K–12 referrals (Voelker, 2017). Qualitative research also found that culturally specific and rural mental health providers who serve the Latino/a/x community believe schools are an effective and promising platform for mental health services for the Latino/a/x community (St. Amour, 2017; Honda, 2019).
III. To achieve greater health equity – a top priority.
IV. Community integration is key: Integrating culturally and linguistically specific mental health care with the community services Latinos/as/x in Oregon regularly use will address three prominent barriers for Latinos/as/x — access, retention and stigma.
V. Resource and support developing and maintaining a Latino/a/x mental health task force and a larger culturally specific mental health task force. This Latino/a/x task force will be one of several task forces representing historically underserved groups in Oregon to comprise a larger culturally specific mental health task force.