addressing emotional wellness during the covid-19 pandemic: the role of promotores in delivering integrated mental health care and social services

Abstract

Introduction The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latino communities has resulted in greater reports of depression, anxiety, and stress. We present a community-led intervention in Latino communities that integrated social services in mental health service delivery for an equity-based response. Methods We used tracking sheets to identify 1,436 unique participants (aged 5–86) enrolled in Latino Health Access’s Emotional Wellness program, of whom 346 enrolled in the pre–COVID-19 period (March 2019–February 2020) and 1,090 in the COVID-19 period (March–June 2020). Demographic characteristics and types of services were aggregated to assess monthly trends using Pearson χ2 tests. Regression models were developed to compare factors associated with referrals in the pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. Results During the pandemic, service volume (P