Latino immigrants' barriers to accessing treatment for substance use disorders in Northern California: A pilot study

1. Background: Latino immigrants with substance use disorders face special barriers when attempting to access treatment. In addition to dealing with financial constraints and varying English proficiency, many immigrants are reluctant to enter state-sponsored treatment programs due to undocumented status. 2. Purpose: To disseminate preliminary results from an ongoing pilot study undertaken to learn more about the treatment challenges confronting Latino immigrants with substance use disorders in Northern California. 3. Methods: Thematic analysis of qualitative data collected in treatment settings in Oakland and San Jose. Data sources include field notes from participant observation at a Latino immigrant-serving clinic where I volunteer as a bilingual community health worker, and transcriptions of in-depth interviews with program directors of substance abuse treatment programs for Latinos. 4. Results: Latino immigrants in Northern California are creating a parallel addiction treatment infrastructure by opening private Spanish-language residential recovery houses. They are driven by the fear of having their undocumented status discovered if they were to access a public (state-funded) program. These private programs are not licensed or accredited, and residents must work long hours to financially support them. In addition, most accept only men. 5. Discussion: Community clinics and public health agencies need to work together to create better healthcare options for immigrants, regardless of legal status, who are in need of treatment. This is an important public health issue because Latino immigrants, the largest group of immigrants in the U.S., suffer disproportionately severe health consequences as a result of disordered drinking and drug use.