Latino Mental Health Case Study

Providing mental health services that are both effective and culturally competent for Latino/a American clients has proved to be challenging. Understanding these challenges requires considering the issue from both a systematic level and from an individual level. At the systematic level, services for Latino/a American clients are affected by a lack of culturally competent clinicians as well as a lack of culturally sensitive assessment tools and interventions (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). At the individual level, there are a myriad of socio-cultural factors that warrant consideration such as limited financial resources, the fear of being stigmatized, or the general lack of awareness regarding mental health issues and services, to name a few (Vega et al., 2007; Vega & Lopez, 2001). These systematic and individual factors demonstrate the need to address these disparities in Latino/a American mental health services. The issue of improving Latino/a American mental health warrants consideration given that Latino/a Americans are not only the most diverse cultural subgroup, they are also the fastest growing minority in the United
Over half of the population who identified as non-White are Latino/a American. Furthermore, it is noted that more than half of the population growth that occurred between 2000 and 2010 was due to an increase in the Latino/a American population. It was reported that from 2000 to 2010, the Latino/a American population increased by 43 percent thus making Latino/a Americans 16 percent of the overall U.S. population. On the other hand, a decrease in growth of the non-Hispanic White population was reported with a growth rate of less than one percent in a decade (Ennts et al.,