142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Telesalud: Providing Telehealth Counseling Services to Latinos/as in Rural Texas

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Tania Rendon, M.A, M.Ed. , Departmen of Education (Counseling), Texas A & M University, Bryan, TX
Carly McCord, PhD , School of Rural Public Health, Telehealth Counseling Clinic, Bryan, TX
Timothy R. Elliott, PhD, ABPP , Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Background:Latinos/as continue to experience disparities in mental health services due to cultural and systemic factors such as language barriers, acceptability of service utilization, and access to care. Telecounseling research has shown improvements in depression, anxiety, quality of life and psychosocial functioning among Latinos/as. The current study investigates if telecounseling is an effective approach in providing psychological treatment for Latinos/as living in a rural, health-professionals shortage area.

 Participants and Methods:16 Latinos (Mage= 36; range = 13-56), 9 females and 7 males, requested services at a telecounseling clinic providing services to residents in rural areas in Texas. Services were provided in preferred language, English or Spanish. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at intake and every other session thereafter.

 Results: Paired samples t-tests showed statistically significant, within individual, decreases in depression after three sessions (Mdecrease = 2.09, SD = 3.88, p <.05).  Furthermore, a repeated measures ANOVA revealed that decreases in depressive symptoms persisted from the first session (M1st = 12.73, SD = 6.70) until the last session (MLast =9, SD = 6.27, p<.01).

 Conclusions: Telecounseling services can be an effective outlet for therapeutic services among Latinos/as in rural, underserved areas.  Implications for continued, culturally sensitive services will be discussed.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Diversity and culture
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the effects of Telecounseling services to Latinos/as in rural Texas. Analyze symptoms of depression and therapeutic outcomes. Discuss the need of Telecounseling services for Latinos/as.

Keyword(s): Telehealth, Latinos

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am currently a counseling PhD student who provides counseling services to Latino/as who reside in rural areas. In addition, during my master’s program in experimental psychology and currently in my PhD program I have been given the opportunity to develop my skills as multicultural researcher. I believe that these experiences and skills make me a good candidate to be an author for this presentation.
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.

Back to: 3206.0: Research Perspectives on Mental Health and Mental Illness: POSTER 1