176059 Latinos and Depression: Findings from a Community-Based Mental Health Promotion Effort

Monday, October 27, 2008: 9:40 AM

Melissa Cristal Mercado-Crespo, MSc, MA , Institute for Hispanic Health, National Council of La Raza, San Juan, PR
Liany Elba Arroyo, MPH, CPH , Institute for Hispanic Health, National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC
Britt Rios-Ellis, PhD, MS , NCLR/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Laura Hoyt D'Anna, DrPH , Center for Health Care Innovation, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
Carlos Londoño, MD , Community Health Education Department, Tiburcio Vásquez Health Center, Inc., Union City, CA
Lupe Núñez , Community Health Education Department, Tiburcio Vásquez Health Center, Inc., Union City, CA
Jorge Salazar , Community Health Services, Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, Inc., El Paso, TX
Vanessa D'Oliveira, MSW , Adult Programs, Abriendo Puertas, Inc., Miami, FL
Claudia Millar, MPH , Institute for Hispanic Health, National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC
In-depth research among Latino communities is essential. Any sustainable solution to Latino mental health disparities must consider the interrelated factors of culture, policy, and health care access. To address this, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), supported by the Lilly Foundation, implemented a project conducted by promotores de salud (lay health educators) – De Blanco y Negro a Colores: Entendiendo la Depresión – to increase awareness, knowledge, and actions related to depression among Latinos in three communities. NCLR-trained promotores reached 454 Latinos through charlas (community health education sessions). Ninety-eight percent of participants completed the program evaluation with more than 300 also completing the accompanying PHQ-9 depression-related symptoms screening questionnaire.

Evaluation results found that in spite of overall low levels of depression-related symptoms, participants who primarily spoke Spanish and those who were foreign-born had significantly higher PHQ-9 scores than primarily English-speaking and U.S.-born Latinos. Furthermore, foreign-born participants who had resided in the U.S. ten years or less had higher PHQ-9 scores than those who had resided in the country for more than ten years. Although a small sample, these results represent a departure from previous research which had found that foreign-born Latinos are less likely to be depressed when compared to U.S.-born Hispanics. Thus, attention should be particularly paid to the mental health of immigrants with limited English skills and tenure in the U.S.

In its second year, the project will expand to assess the influence of environmental factors (i.e., economy and anti-immigrant sentiment) on foreign- and native-born Hispanics' mental health status.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about a culturally competent and linguistically appropriate promotores de salud intervention to increase Latino communities’ understanding of depression and its identification and prevention. 2. Understand how community-based research is challenging conventional wisdom on depression and Latinos. 3. Emphasize the importance of community-based research to accurately document and address the health needs and realities of Hispanics.

Keywords: Depression, Latino Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I, Melissa Cristal Mercado-Crespo, MSc, MA, serve as Project Coordinator of the Institute for Hispanic Health at NCLR, the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. In this capacity, I assist in the development, management, and evaluation/reporting of health promotion and disease prevention projects targeting Latino communities in the United States. Specifically, I coordinate NCLR’s De Blanco y Negro a Colores: Entendiendo la Depresión Project (From Black and White to Color: Understanding Depression), focused on depression and mental health among Latinos. With my fellow coauthors and colleagues, we designed, implemented, and analyzed this project’s findings.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.