Retaining Latino CD Patients to Treatment

Abstract

The increase of the Latino population throughout the Unites States is an issue of concern to the substance abuse professionals. Researchers on the Latino population and substance abuse have attempted to study the impact of various cultural factors that must be considered when engaging them in treatment. However, research on the prevalence of substance use and abuse in the Latino population is limited. The use of the terms Hispanic and Latino creates many problems to researchers. Often research ignores the intracultural differences among subgroups. There are wide disparities among Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Central and South Americans in indices such as: educational attainment, socioeconomic status and labor force participation (Sanchez-Mayers & Kail, 1993). There is a clustering of the various Hispanic subgroups in different parts of the U.S.A. just as types of drug use vary around the country. This research study focuses particularly on the retention rates in a metropolitan outpatient setting and explores the implications of ethnicity and cultural values which might influence retention and treatment outcomes.