Our Mental Health project identifies the unique mental health needs of Latinx and Indigenous Latin American immigrant communities focusing on the voices of members of the Purépecha community. The Purépecha are an indigenous group from Michoacán Mexico.
Wellbeing in the Purépecha Community
Improving Mental Health in the Eastern Coachella Valley.
Behind the Project
This project was funded through a Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EACB-34760). Check out our PCORI project page.
The views, statements, and opinions presented on this website, including all reports and videos, are solely the responsibility of Unidas por Salud and do not necessarily represent the views of PCORI®.
Our team collaborates with the UC Riverside Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience residency program and Insight Family Counseling and Wellness Services Inc to carry out project activities.
Project Lead: Ann Cheney, PhD Community Lead: Maria Pozar
Project Coordinator: Jacqueline Moreira Student Assistant: Liliana Talavera Pozar
Healthcare Provider: Dr. Pablo Ruiz Therapist: Muriel Casamayor, PhD
Lead Promotora: Yesenia Pozar
What We’re Doing Now
We are bringing together Latinx and Indigenous Mexican community members, promotoras, community health workers, researchers, and mental health professionals to identify community mental health needs and priorities. Through advisory board meetings, focus groups, co-learning sessions, PCOR/CER trainings, mental health talks, and workgroups, participants share lived experiences, discuss barriers to care, and help shape future research questions and culturally relevant interventions.
These activities both inform research priorities and build community capacity by centering community voices, strengthening research knowledge, and supporting partners to participate as collaborators in patient-centered mental health research.
Our team recently visited members of the Purépecha community in Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington, and California meeting with families, leaders, and healthcare and community organizations serving this community.
Hear directly from Purépecha community members about their experiences in the U.S. navigating mental health and accessing medical care in these videos from the [Central Valley], [Eastern Coachella Valley], and [Pennsylvania] communities. You can learn more about the Purépecha community in our site visit report [Español][English].
During our visits, we learned that families are leaving their communities in Michoacán, Mexico to seek asylum in the United States. We partnered with lawyers and mental health therapists to provide education on the legal process and mental healthcare resources (supported independently of PCORI funding). In our talks we discussed the experience of asylum and process of asylum seeking and medical and mental healthcare resources.
Community Reports
Findings from our visits to Purépecha communities are reported here.
Purépecha Community: Site Visit Report
Focus Group Reports
PCORI Focus Group Report
This analysis synthesizes findings from five focus groups conducted in distinct Purépecha communities across the United States—specifically in Eastern Coachella Valley (CA), Central California (CA), Pennsylvania, Washington, and Florida. The goal was to better understand community-identified health priorities, barriers to care, cultural and linguistic needs, and mental health perspectives.