Benefits of long-term group therapy for disadvantaged Hispanic outpatients.

The authors describe a long-term group therapy program that has been successful in helping Hispanic women cope with adverse social and economic conditions and with a male-dominated culture. The group members explore conflicts presented by traditional roles of men and women in Hispanic culture and the issues of acculturation, family conflicts, children's performance, and violence, crime, and drug use in the community. Therapists' use of role modeling and didactic discussion encourages group members to share and examine their feelings, to provide insight into other members' feelings, and to slowly change their behavior.

Enhancing medication compliance in coffee groups.

In an adult outpatient department of a hospital serving a severely disadvantaged population, coffee groups have become an effective means of treating chronic, treatment-resistant patients and reinforcing their compliance with medication regimens. In dealing with the patients, many of whom have problems communicating needs and information, the therapists have developed such approaches as using concrete language, recognizing that many patients use medication transactions to reflect dissatisfaction with changes in group routine, anticipating common problems related to medication, and at times accepting patients' idiosyncratic chemotherapeutic preferences. Important elements of the coffee groups are the caring attitude of the co-therapists, a nonpressured atmosphere, and the presence of a familiar peer group.

Utilization patterns of a CMHC in an urban ghetto area.

Economically disadvantaged and minority patients often are viewed as being reluctant to use outpatient mental health services, especially psychoanalytically oriented ones. They are also believed to have high rates of dropout from treatment. A community mental health center in New York City's Spanish Harlem studied its clientele over a year and found that center usage and client outcome were unrelated to social, ethnic, or cultural factors, but depended on clinical considerations.