There are well-documented mental healthcare disparities currently impacting the US Latinx population. Research efforts have been made to adapt and disseminate interventions aimed at reducing these disparities. However, these have often been conducted in a “top-down” (researcher driven) fashion with little involvement of members of the Latinx community. Novel approaches (i.e., cultural adaptation stage models; community-based participatory research) have been developed that show promise in being able to reduce mental health disparities within the Latinx population by involving community stakeholders at all stages of research. This chapter discusses the issues currently driving mental healthcare disparities in the Latinx population and how these approaches can provide a viable way to reduce them. The chapter concludes with a discussion of two case studies showing how an intervention aimed at reducing mental healthcare disparities was developed, tested, and later disseminated with the use of these methodologies to include community stakeholders at every stage of the research process. Recommendations for future directions to carry this work forward are then discussed.
Elsevier, Community Mental Health Engagement with Racially Diverse Populations, May 2020, Pages 15-48
