Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Integrated Health Care for Latino Immigrants and Refugees: What Do They Need?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Enhancing Behavioral Health in Latino Populations

Abstract

As the health care sector moves toward the integration of health and mental health care, service providers are posed to improve care for highly vulnerable immigrants and refugees. This chapter explores the tensions and misunderstandings that arise when immigrants engage with health care systems and institutions designed for English speakers familiar with American culture and systems of care. Such structures affect the quality of care immigrants and refugees receive, and overtime, contribute to health disparities for individuals, families, and communities. To counter language and cultural barriers, this chapter presents a vision for integrated health care that attends to variations in immigrant health care needs based on levels of acculturation, pre- and post-migration experiences, citizenship status, and settlement context. Finally, we discuss the role of integrated health and mental health care in leveraging immigrants’ strengths while mitigating their vulnerabilities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alvarez, K., Marroquin, Y. A., Sandoval, L., & Carlson, C. I. (2014). Integrated health care best practices and culturally and linguistically competent care: Practitioner perspectives. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 36(2), 99–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auxier, A., Farley, T., & Seifert, K. (2011). Establishing an integrated care practice in a community health center. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42(5), 391–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bao, Y. H., Alexopoulos, G. S., Casalino, L. P., Ten Have, T. R., Donohue, J. M., Post, E. P., … Bruce, M. L. (2011). Collaborative depression care management and disparities in depression treatment and outcomes. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(6), 627–636.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blount, A. (2003). Integrated primary care: Organizing the evidence. Families, Systems and Health, 21(2), 121–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A., & Patten, E. (2014). Statistical portrait of Hispanics in the United States, 2012. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/04/29/statistical-portrait-of-hispanics-in-the-united-states-2012/.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, L. R., & Pauly, M. V. (2002). Integrated delivery networks: A detour on the road to integrated health care? Health Affairs, 21(4), 128–143.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derose, K. P., Bahney, B. W., Lurie, N., & Escarce, J. J. (2009). Immigrants and health care access, quality, and cost. Medical Care Research and Review, 24(3), 487–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom, D. W., & Okamura, A. (2007). A nation of immigrants: A call for a specialization in immigrant well-being. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 16(3-4), 103–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom, D. W., Piedra, L. M., & Min, J. W. (2009). Bilingual social workers: Language and service complexities. Administration in Social Work, 33(2), 167–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, A. L., Liebman, A. K., Ryder, B., Weir, M., & Arcury, T. A. (2013). Health care access and health care workforce for immigrant workers in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector in the Southeaster U.S. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 56, 960. doi:10.1002/ajim.22183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gregg, J., & Saha, S. (2007). Communicative competence: A framework for understanding language barriers in health care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(Suppl. 2), 368–370.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gresenz, C. R., Derose, K. P., Ruder, T., & Escarce, J. J. (2012). Health care experiences of Hispanics in new and traditional U.S. destinations. Medical Care Research and Review, 69(6), 663–678.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harari, N., Davis, M., & Heisler, M. (2008). Strangers in a strange land: Health care experiences for recent Latino immigrants in Midwest communities. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 19(4), 1350–1367.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. (2008). Connecting body and mind: A resource guide to integrated health care in Texas and the United States. Austin, TX: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imberti, P. (2007). Who resides behind the words? Exploring and understanding the language experience of the non-English-speaking immigrant. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 88(1), 67–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • JimĂ©nez, T. R. (2010). Replenished ethnicity: Mexican-Americans, immigration, and identity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones-Correa, M. (2008). Race to the top? The politics of immigrant education in suburbia. In D. Massey (Ed.), New faces in new places: The changing geography of American immigration (pp. 308–340). New York, NY: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirmayer, L. J., Narasiah, L., Munoz, M., Rashid, M., Ryder, A. G., Guzder, J., … Pottie, K., (2011). Common mental health problems in immigrants and refugees: General approach in primary care. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 183(12), E959–E967.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanesskog, D., Piedra, L. M., & Maldonado, S. (2015). Beyond bilingual and bicultural: Serving Latinos in a new growth community. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 24(4), 300–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D. T., & Johnson, K. M. (2006). Emerging rural settlement patterns and the geographic redistribution of America’s new immigrants. Rural Sociology, 71(1), 109–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D. T., & Johnson, K. M. (2009). Immigrant gateways and Hispanic migration to new destinations. International Migration Review, 43(3), 496–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebert, S., & Ameringer, C. F. (2013). The health care safety net and the affordable care act: Implications for Hispanic immigrants. Public Administration Review, 73(6), 810–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livingston, G. (2009). Hispanics, health insurance, and health care access. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2009/09/25/hispanics-health-insurance-and-health-care-access/.

    Google Scholar 

  • LĂłpez-Cevallos, D. (2014). Are Latino immigrants a burden to safety net services in nontraditional immigrant states? Lessons from Oregon. American Journal of Public Health, 104(5), 781–786.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Okie, S. (2007). Immigrants and health care: At the intersection of two broken systems. The New England Journal of Medicine, 357(6), 525–529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Partida, Y. (2007). Addressing language barriers: Building response capacity for a changing nation. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(Suppl 2), 347–349.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Passel, J. R., & Cohn, D. (2009). A portrait of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perreira, K. M., Crosnoe, R., Fortuny, K., Pedroza, J., Ulvestad, K., Weiland, C., … Chaudry, A. (2012). Barriers to immigrants’ access to health and human services programs. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Human Services Policy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piedra, L. M., Andrade, F. C. D., & Larrison, C. R. (2011). Building response capacity: The need for universally available language services. In L. P. Buki & L. M. Piedra (Eds.), Creating infrastructures for Latino mental health (pp. 55–75). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Piedra, L. M., & Engstrom, D. W. (2009). Segmented assimilation theory and the life model: An integrated approach to understanding immigrants and their children. Social Work, 54(3), 270–277.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., Fernandez-Kelly, P., & Light, D. (2012). Life on the edge: Immigrants confront the American health system. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(1), 3–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., Light, D., & Fernandez-Kelly, P. (2009). The U.S. health system and immigration: An institutional interpretation. Sociological Forum, 24(3), 487–514.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, B. J., Golzales, R. G., & Lesniewski, J. (2015). Building a stronger safety net: Local organizations and the challenges of serving immigrants in the suburbs. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership, & Governance, 39(4), 348–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, E., Aguirre, R. T. P., & Mitschke, D. B. (2013). What leads non-U.S.-born. Latinos to Access Mental Health Care? Social Work in Health Care, 52(1), 1–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, K., Chapa, T., Ybara, R., & Martinez, O. N. (2012). Enhancing the delivery of health care: Eliminating health disparities through a culturally & linguistically centered integrated health care approach: Consensus statements and recommendations. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Office of Minority Health.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, A. L., Domenech RodrĂ­guez, M. M., Santiago-Rivera, A., Arredondo, P., & Field, L. D. (2010). Cultural and linguistic competence: Welcome challenges from successful diversification. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41, 210–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schyve, P. M. (2007). Language differences as a barrier to quality and safety in health care: The joint commission perspective. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22(Suppl 2), 360–361.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, S. J., Burgers, J., Freidberg, M., Rosenthal, M. B., Leape, L., & Schneider, E. (2011). Defining and measuring integrated patient care: Promoting the next frontier in health care delivery. Medical Care Research and Review, 68(1), 112–127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sue, D. W., Bernier, J. E., Durran, A., Feinberg, L., Pedersen, P., Smith, E. J., & Vasquez-Nuttall, E. (1982). Position paper: Cross-cultural counseling competencies. The Counseling Psychologist, 10, 45–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suro, R., Wilson, J. H., & Singer, A. (2011). Immigration and poverty in America’s suburbs (Metropolitan opportunity series, Vol. 20). Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2011/08/04-immigration-suro-wilson-singer.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, C. C., Solid, C. A., Hodges, J. S., & Boehm, D. H. (2014). Does integrated care affect healthcare utilization in multi-problem refugees? Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17, 1444. doi:10.1007/s10903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (May, 2008). Integrated health services – What and why? Technical Brief No. 1, Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, 92407, USA

    Deirdre Lanesskog M.P.A., Ph.D.

  2. School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Lissette M. Piedra M.S.W., Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Deirdre Lanesskog M.P.A., Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lissette M. Piedra M.S.W., Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deirdre Lanesskog M.P.A., Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Lorraine T. Benuto

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    William O'Donohue

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lanesskog, D., Piedra, L.M. (2016). Integrated Health Care for Latino Immigrants and Refugees: What Do They Need?. In: Benuto, L., O'Donohue, W. (eds) Enhancing Behavioral Health in Latino Populations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42533-7_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation