Psychiatric Rehabilitation Outcomes Among Hispanics with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose: To conduct a systematic literature review relating to psychiatric rehabilitation (PsyR) outcomes of Hispanics with co-occurring serious mental illness (SMI) and substance use disorder (SUD) and to identify the most appropriate evidenced-based practices (EBPs) to facilitate treatment strategies for this population. Method: The following electronic databases were used to search multiple keywords and keyword combinations: MEDLINE/PubMed, SpringerLink, and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). The initial search resulted in a total of 911 articles. Next, 906 articles from the initial search were excluded because they did not meet inclusion criteria for the following reasons: duplicates (n = 50), not relating to PsyR outcomes (n = 718) or to co-occurring SMI and SUD (n = 53), and not including Hispanics (n = 85). Five articles were retained for this study. Results: The included studies were classified by intervention into three categories: Integrated Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatments (3), Motivational Interviewing (1), and Psychosocial Resources (1). Outcomes included reduction in mental health and PTSD symptoms, increased abstinence, decrease in substance use and psychiatric hospitalizations, improved self-efficacy for recovery, and better quality of life (QOL). Conclusion: This review identified several successful PsyR outcomes for Hispanics with co-occurring SMI and SUD; however, it also highlighted the limited availability of extant literature focused on EBPs for Hispanics with co-occurring SMI and SUD. As the Hispanic population increases, their specific needs should be addressed.