Skip to main content
Article
Scaling Out Evidence-Based Interventions Outside the U.S. Mainland: Social Justice or Trojan Horse?
Journal of Latina/o Psychology
  • Melanie M. Domenech-Rodriguez, Utah State University
  • Ana A. L. Baumann, Utah State University
  • Alejandro L. Vázquez, Utah State University
  • Nancy G. Amador-Buenabad, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñíz
  • Natalie Franceschi Rivera, Private Practice, Ponce, Puerto Rico
  • Nydia Ortiz-Pons, Ponce Health Sciences University
  • J. Rubén Parra-Cardona, University of Texas at Austin
Document Type
Article
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract

Global health disparities continue to widen as professional standards for effectiveness of mental health services provision become more precise and difficult to achieve across varied economic and social contexts. Within the U.S., health disparities are evident in Latinx populations. Globally, the health disparities are also evident in Latin America as compared to the U.S. and other economically affluent nations. The diversification of psychology in content and persons has led to a unique opportunity to build bridges that can help reduce disparities in- and outside of the U.S. mainland. Collaborations can be of great use in addressing health disparities internationally but also are of critical importance in testing the ecological validity of existing interventions. It is imperative that researchers approach these exchanges as truly collaborative and power even, as researchers in all locations stand to learn and grow from the partnership, otherwise U.S.-based researchers can unwittingly engage intellectual colonization and advance cultural imperialism. U.S.-based researchers must be particularly thoughtful about disparities in both resources and consequences for success and failures in research contexts. We discuss specific failures, recoveries, and successes that may be useful to other researchers engaged, or seeking to engage in, international collaborations.

Comments

©American Psychological Association, 2018. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000121

Citation Information
Domenech Rodríguez, M. M., Baumann, A., Vázquez, A. L., Amador Buenabad, N. G., Franceschi Rivera, N., Ortiz Nolasco, N., & Parra-Cardona, J. R. (2018, Online First). Scaling out evidence-based interventions outside the US mainland: Social justice or Trojan horse? Journal of Latina/o Psychology. doi: 10.1037/lat0000121