APA Launches Website Hosting Spanish Language Resources for Patients, Psychiatrists

APA recently launched LaSaludMental.org, a website hosting Spanish-language information and resources on mental and substance use disorders that are culturally informed and evidence based.

The new site features resources on five of the most commonly searched conditions related to mental health: depression, domestic violence, stigma, substance use disorders, and suicide. LaSaludMental.org will also host information on additional mental illnesses over time.

“The impetus behind this effort was to address the overwhelming need for reliable, evidence-based information on mental health and substance use disorders available in Spanish,” said APA President Rebecca Brendel, M.D., J.D. “Our goal was not to simply translate information we already had in English into Spanish, but rather to collaborate with our member psychiatrists who are part of the Spanish-speaking community in the United States to develop information and resources that are culturally competent, relevant, and easily understood by a broad section of the Hispanic and Latino community.”

The content hosted on LaSaludMental.org includes informational text, quizzes, expert Q&A in both print and video formats, infographics, printable handouts, animated explainer videos, and more. While tailored to a Spanish-speaking audience, the website has content in both Spanish and English. The site will be updated with new content on a rolling basis.

LaSaludMental.org is being promoted as part of the APA Foundation’s “Mentally Healthy Nation” National Public Service Announcement Campaign. The Mentally Healthy Nation campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the mental health crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, includes six public service announcements in both English and Spanish. The Spanish versions direct listeners to LaSaludMental.org.

The site and its content were developed by APA and its Spanish Language Communications Working Group, composed of Hispanic and Latino APA member psychiatrists, most of whom are native Spanish speakers. The working group, which will continue to guide the development of content for the website, is co-chaired by Hector Cólon-Rivera, M.D., and Amalia Londoño Tobón, M.D.

“This is the first time in the nearly 180 years of APA’s existence that it is working in a language other than English,” said Cólon-Rivera in an interview with Psychiatric News. Calling the new website a “work in progress,” Cólon-Rivera said, “We hope it is just the beginning, and we would like to branch out to other languages as well.” He noted that the working group hopes to post a physician locator to help individuals find psychiatrists in their area.

Cólon-Rivera and Londoño Tobón said the wide gap between the number of Spanish-speaking Americans and the availability of Spanish language mental health professionals and services make LaSaludMental.org invaluable to practitioners and to patients.

“Although Hispanics make up around 20% of the U.S. population, there are very limited Spanish culturally congruent mental health resources available to Hispanic families,” Londoño Tobón told Psychiatric News. “The content of LaSaludMental.org was developed by Hispanic APA members with APA’s support to meet this unaddressed need to better serve our growing Hispanic community. We know that many Hispanic individuals do not have access to mental health care and information. It is incredibly important to develop and have resources that facilitate access to professional information for our community.”

She added: “Psychiatrists and mental health professionals should encourage patients to informally browse through the page or look up specific content relating to concerns they may have such as stigma of mental illness, substance use and substance use disorders, intimate partner violence, and suicide, among others. Psychiatrists who speak Spanish can also use this content to learn more about mental health issues in the Hispanic community and how to discuss these topics with their patients.”

The other members of the working group are Drs. Sebastian Aceuedo, Ruby Castilla-Puentes, Whitney Cordoba-Crueso, Ludmila De Faria, Tatiana Falcone, Roberto Lewis-Fernandez, Pamela Montano Arteaga, Bernardo Ng, Oscar Perez, Diego Regalado, Ricardo Restrepo, Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy, Marta Rondon, Gabrielle Shapiro, and Victoria Valdez. ■