Substance Abuse Treatment Provider Views of “Culture”: Implications for Behavioral Health Care in Rural Settings

• Published in: Qualitative health research 2007-11, Vol.17 (9), p.1256-1267
• Main Authors: Quintero, Gilbert A., Lilliott, Elizabeth, Willging, Cathleen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Health Services - standards; Attitude of Health Personnel - ethnology; Cultural attitudes; Cultural competence; Cultural Competency - legislation & jurisprudence; Culture; Drug abuse; European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Family - ethnology; Female; Gender Identity; Gender roles; Health behavior; Healthcare Disparities; Help seeking behavior; Hispanic people; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Medical treatment; Mental Disorders - ethnology; Mental health professionals; Mental health services; Mental Health Services - standards; Mexican Americans - psychology; New Mexico; Poverty; Professional attitudes; Professional Competence - legislation & jurisprudence; Professional-Family Relations; Professional-Patient Relations; Qualitative Research; Rural communities; Rural Health Services - standards; Social Values - ethnology; Substance abuse; Substance abuse treatment; Substance-Related Disorders - ethnology; Teenagers; Youth
• ISSN: 1049-7323; 1552-7557
• DOI: 10.1177/1049732307307757

Mandates for culturally competent substance abuse and mental health services call for behavioral health providers to recognize and engage cultural issues. These efforts to incorporate culture typically focus on client culture, but provider views of culture can also influence the provision of services. Analysis of 42 semistructured interviews with behavioral health providers suggests that culture is considered by many to be an obstacle to help seeking and treatment of substance-abusing youth. Although some providers do not highlight cultural issues, others conceptualize culture in terms of (a) generalized Hispanic cultural attributes, (b) male-dominant gender roles, and (c) the culture of poverty. Recommendations for provider training on cultural issues focus on ways they might critically consider their ideas about culture.