Treatment of Latinos with Mental Disorders: Conceptual and Empirical Approaches

Background

Research has highlighted health disparities that exist between minority and non-minority populations in the United States. In the area of mental health, disparities have been noted in the areas of assessment and diagnosis, access to services and quality of care, as well as training and research. In light of recent US Census data, Latinos are now the largest minority group in the United States and the problem of mental health disparities is, therefore, of particular concern among Latinos. However, there continues to be a relatively small number of active Latino researchers and limited research focused on the mental health of this population. Thus, the Critical Research Issues in Latino Mental Health conference seeks to foster research careers that contribute to our knowledge of Latino mental health. The conference seeks to do this by bringing promising new investigators together with distinguished and established researchers in the area of Latino mental health.