Latinos less likely to seek, obtain, complete mental health services, report finds

April 25, 2018

Leaders from the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs briefed the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners Tuesday on the findings of an in-depth and far-reaching study of mental health disparities among the state’s Latino residents, which found Latino and Latina residents are less likely to receive mental health services than Non-Latino whites, and that when they do access care, it is more likely to be of poorer quality, and clients are more likely to quit.

Alberto Moreno, Chair of the state's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, briefs commissioners on disparities in mental health.

The project, based on 30 years of data from the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority, paints a picture of unmet mental health needs of Oregon’s Latino residents. The Commission on Hispanic Affairs prepared the report in spring 2017 in partnership with Oregon Enterprise Data Analytics, then began rolling the report out first to state agencies, then lawmakers and recently to county governments.

Alberto Moreno, Chair of the Commission on Hispanic Affairs, told commissioners Tuesday that the expanding role of immigration and customs enforcement, along with a rise in hate crimes and hateful speech directed at immigrant Latino residents has caused deep trauma and fear.

"Our families are at this time in our history experiencing tremendous stress loads, tremendous public persecution," he said. "This, coupled with geographic, linguistic isolation and a dearth of Latino mental health providers threaten to create the perfect mental health storm in our community."

The Latino population is the largest minority group in Oregon, at 12 percent. And the Latino community grows, Moreno said, so does their need for culturally-appropriate mental health services. According to the report, Latinos are less likely to seek mental health services compared to other groups. And survey respondents reported fear and stigma, inadequate access to bilingual mental health providers, and a lack of culturally-specific services were among the largest obstacles.

The presenters called for a larger investment in Latino mental health programs and on-site mental health services in community centers and primary care clinics, and they recommended hiring more Latino and Latina professionals and peer mentors to better meet the needs of Latino and Latina clients.

With a growing Latino community in East Multnomah County, Commissioner Lori Stegmann said the project highlights the need for finding solutions to better meet the need of residents in her district.

“Spotlighting all of this is really important,” Stegmann said. “The bottom line is, just meeting people where they are and saying, ‘What is it that you need? What barrier needs to be removed in order for you to access mental health?’”

Commissioner Loretta Smith praised the analysis as highlighting ways the County can improve mental health outcomes in the Latino community. “The importance of culturally-specific services cannot be understated,” she said. “We can do better and we must reduce the impact of limited services and non-effective treatment models.”