Breaking barriers between Latinos and health care workers

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A group of students at Fresno State are benefitting from a large grant to help them bridge the gap between Latinos and behavioral health care workers.

Fresno State Associate Professor Iran Barerra says a new grant being given to social work graduate students is the start of something big.

Barerra said, "This gives us the opportunity to really, really apply research to practice."

The Health Resources and Service Administration Bureau of Health Professions has just give $606,000 to train social work students to better work with Latinos. Fresno State's social work grad students will benefit from the three year grant, which will use curriculum that forces them to write, speak and learn in Spanish.

Fresno State grad student Senovia Gutierrez said, "We work with a lot of Latinos here in this community so having the skills and Latinos to help them is very important."

The grant's purpose isn't just to make Latinos feel more comfortable, it's to mold behavioral health programs so they can cater more to them. Barerra says research has shown many Latinos won't even get mental health help in the United States because of the language barrier. Also, some medical terms don't always translate.

Barerra explained, "You run the risk of misdiagnosing, under diagnosing or over diagnosing or all three and that leads to other problems such as prescribing the wrong medication, for example."

Fresno State grad student Esenia Meza said, "A lot of our clients we've had, have trouble communicating with their therapists or clinicians or even their providers."

The grant also provides a $10,000 stipend for the 40 students taking part. The participants we talked to said they'll use the money to pay off student loans.

Department administrators hope to continue this new curriculum past the life of the grant, eventually integrating it into the social work graduate program.