Assessing Recovery-Promoting Competencies of Providers Serving Latinos With Serious Mental Illnesses

• Published in: Journal of Latina/o Psychology 2015-11, Vol.3 (4), p.239-257
• Main Authors: Rogers, E. Sally, Russinova, Zlatka, Maru, Mihoko, Restrepo-Toro, Maria E., Cook, Karon F., Rogers, James (Diego)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Female; Health Care Utilization; Human; Latinos/Latinas; Male; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Mental Health Services; Minority Groups; Recovery (Disorders); Serious Mental Illness; Test Construction
• ISSN: 2168-1678; 2578-8086; 2168-1678; 2163-0070; 2578-8094
• DOI: 10.1037/lat0000043

Although Latinos comprise the largest minority group in the United States, literature suggests continuing disparities in terms of access to and utilization of mental health services as well as a lack of culturally competent providers to serve them. The purpose of this project was to culturally adapt an instrument that assesses the competencies of mental health and rehabilitation providers to promote the recovery of Latina/o mental health clients. We began with an instrument that was developed and validated for English-speaking clients and that assesses providers' ability to promote recovery from the perspective of clients themselves. We acquired input from Latina/o mental health clients through focus groups, refined original items, developed new items, and subjected them to psychometric examination with 318 Latina/o mental health clients. Properties of the resulting 24-item Spanish version of the RPRS (Recovery-Promoting Relationships Scale; Escala para evaluar cómo las relaciones interpersonales promueven la recuperación) had acceptable reliability and validity and comprised 2 subscales that assess providers' competencies to maintain a therapeutic alliance and strategies to enhance clients' recovery process. We successfully adapted a scale that assesses various aspects of the relationship between mental health providers and their clients, which we believe is critical for the Latina/o mental health population. This scale is one of few that has been developed and tested with careful attention to cultural appropriateness. Los Latinos constituyen el mayor grupo minoritario en los Estados Unidos, pero la literatura sugiere que las disparidades continúan en términos del acceso y la utilización de los servicios de salud mental, así como también en la falta de proveedores de salud mental culturalmente competentes para atenderles. El propósito de este proyecto fue adaptar culturalmente un instrumento que evaluara las competencias de los proveedores de salud mental y de rehabilitación para promover la recuperación de los clientes latinos de salud mental. Partimos de un instrumento desarrollado y validado con clientes de salud mental que hablan inglés el cual mide la habilidad de los proveedores para promover la recuperación, desde la perspectiva de los mismos clientes. Obtuvimos información proveniente de clientes latinos de salud mental a través de grupos focales, perfeccionamos ítems originales y desarrollamos nuevos ítems, y los sometimos a una evaluación psicom