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Latinos in Rural Areas: Addressing Mental Health Disparities in New Growth Communities

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Creating Infrastructures for Latino Mental Health

Abstract

Although many communities fail to provide adequate mental health support for immigrants, the problem is particularly evident in rural areas. In these areas, access barriers—geographic isolation, the lack of public transportation systems, and the shortage of health care providers—are particularly acute. In this chapter, we draw on our research and outreach experience with Latino immigrants in the Midwest to illustrate the gaps between this population’s needs and the available resources. We also provide some possible strategies for bridging those gaps and make recommendations regarding much needed changes to augment the technical capacity to serve Latinos in rural areas.

While significant progress has been made to respond to the mental health service needs of the Hispanic population in general, relatively little attention has been directed to identifying, understanding and addressing the mental health service problems, concerns and needs of Hispanics/Latinos residing in rural America.

—Soto 2000

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Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the contributions to this chapter made by Latinos living in several rural communities of Illinois that have participated in our projects (Beardstown, Belvidere, Carbondale, Cobden, DeKalb, Effingham, Galesburg, Monmouth, Rochelle, Rockford), and to the Hispanic Health Advisory Committees in those communities. We are specially indebted to community leaders Benito Luna, Evaristo Rodriguez, José Acosta (Beardstown), Earl Mainland (Belvidere), Cathy Bless, Flora Chacón (Carbondale), Aurelia Zargoza (Cobden), Gilda Madrid, Tricia Wagner, Carla Raynor (DeKalb), Rosie Gibbons (Effingham), Tony Franklin (Galesburg), Al Kulczewski (Monmouth), Vicky Bross (Rochelle), and Pat Gomez and Ed Flores (Rockford).

Projects that informed portions of this chapter were funded by National Institutes of Health/National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities(NIH/NCMHD) (Grant No. P20 MD0000524), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Grant No. CDC U48/CDC U509661), National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), and Excellence in Academic Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford (Grant No. G7111). We also acknowledge the support we received at various stages of our community work from Ben Mueller, Michael Glasser, and Carlos Aguero, as well as the valuable comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript provided by the editors (Drs. Buki and Piedra). Research assistance was provided by Emilio Araujo, Adriana Bautista, Isidro Gallegos, Sunanda Gupta, Brittney Lilly, Cindy Harper, Lora Oswald, Gloria Rincón, María Silva, Ellen Smith-Blokus, and Alejandra Valencia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Rockford, IL, USA

    Sergio Cristancho

  2. School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA

    Karen E. Peters

  3. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia

    D. Marcela Garcés

  4. Facultad Nacional de Salud PÚblica, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 62 No. 52–59, Medellin, Colombia

    Sergio Cristancho

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  1. Sergio Cristancho
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Kinesiology & Community Health, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, S. Fourth St. 1206, Champaign, 61820, Illinois, USA

    Lydia P. Buki

  2. School of Social Work, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, W. Nevada St. 1010, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Lissette M. Piedra

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Cristancho, S., Peters, K.E., Garcés, D. (2011). Latinos in Rural Areas: Addressing Mental Health Disparities in New Growth Communities. In: Buki, L., Piedra, L. (eds) Creating Infrastructures for Latino Mental Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9452-3_11

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