Family Research Consortium IV

Faculty
 

Margarita Alegría, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Director, Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research
Harvard Medical School
malegria@charesearch.org

Dr. Alegría's research has focused on mental health services for hard to reach minority populations.
Her current research projects include:

  1. Evaluating ethnic/racial disparities in access to and undertreatment of behavioral health care.
  2. Examining the role of individual, social, cultural, and institutional factors on treatment and provider choices for behavioral health.
  3. Developing conceptual models and appropriate measurement strategies to understand and address the mental health and substance abuse problems of minority populations.
  4. Assessing problems in patient-provider communication.
Of particular significance is Dr. Alegría's and Dr. David Takeuchi's groundbreaking work as Principal Investigators of the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). NLAAS is a national sample survey through which Drs. Alegría and Takeuchi are examining the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and use of mental health services among Latinos and Asians in the United States. They intend to estimate the relation of social position, environmental context and psychosocial factors with the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and utilization rates of mental health services for individuals of Latino and Asian descent. In relation to the key foci of geographical transitions, the national sample allows an in depth look at census differences in acculturation, familism, and network structure.


UCLA Center for Culture & Health, 760 Westwood Plaza, Box 62, Los Angeles, CA 90024