Assessing mental health and technology use in the time of COVID-19 among farmworkers in the U.S. – Mexico border
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present findings on a community-based participatory research project where the authors examined access and ability to use technology, attitudes and perceptions of technology, and COVID-19 and mental health beliefs in the time of COVID-19, among predominantly Hispanic/Latinx farmworker males residing in the US–Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used a qualitative narrative analysis which consisted of in-person interviews in Spanish with male farmworkers (n = 10) between the ages of 49–60 years. This paper applied a research approach designed to engage researchers and community stakeholders as equal partners with the goal of improving practice.
Findings
Of the participants, eight reported having a phone and only three reported knowing how to use the internet. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants reported living a relatively stress-free life. When the pandemic impacted their community, they reported experiencing heightened anxiety and stress. To relieve stress, all participants used healthy coping strategies (e.g. walking and gardening).
Originality/value
The findings suggest that farmworker males are receptive to obtaining mental health services. In addition, they would benefit from resources highlighting healthy stress coping mechanisms. Due to their limited knowledge of current internet technology, efforts on how to promote and deliver mental health services and resources to farmworkers should be strategic and appropriate.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Drs. Mark Jurado and Josiah Heyman at The University of Texas at El Paso, Dr Mahmooda Pasha and Angela Makris at The University of South Florida, Dr. Thomas Taylor, Raul Portillo, Maria Covernali, and Centro de los Trabajadores Agricolas Fronterizos.
Funding: This work was supported in whole by a $40m award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH) as part of the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities (NIMIC), and three-year cooperative agreement between OMH and Morehouse School of Medicine (Grant No. 226351778A).
Declaration of interest statement: The authors declared no conflict of interest.
Citation
Castor, M.D., Hernandez, N. and Orozco, A. (2024), "Assessing mental health and technology use in the time of COVID-19 among farmworkers in the U.S. – Mexico border", Mental Health and Digital Technologies, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHDT-11-2023-0003
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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