University Honors

Mental health is vital to an individualís emotional and psychological wellbeing. Mental health care is important for coping with lifeís unpredictability. When thinking of the pursuit of mental health, the age group in which this type of care is common tends to be a younger demographic. However, older adults are often overlooked for this type of care. The elderly Latinx community often tends to view mental health negatively, as several were not exposed to believing in that type of care growing up, which prevents access to care. Therefore, this community is a vulnerable population that needs access to this care to improve their mental wellbeing. The focus of my project is the older adult Latinx community because this community is often underserved for mental health care. Barriers are what make older adults reluctant to seek assistance for mental health; hence, the purpose of this project is to identify the barriers that make this population undertreated. This would be done through a literature review of published articles that explore the barriers and facilitators this community faces. Elders are often pillars of their families and are essential to keep family traditions, history, and wisdom. As a result, it is important to bring awareness to mental health barriers of the Latinx elderly community to garner support and provide a safe environment for the generations that follow in their footsteps.