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Leveraging Family Values to Decrease Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Aging Latino Day Laborers

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Abstract

In one Los Angeles study, 20 % of day laborers reported excessive drinking. Older adults are more sensitive to alcohol’s effects, yet heavy drinking persists among Latinos until they are in their 60s. No interventions to reduce heavy drinking exist for aging day laborers. We recruited 14 day laborers aged 50 and older in Los Angeles. We identified their unhealthy alcohol use behaviors and comorbidities and conducted semi-structured interviews to understand their perceptions of unhealthy alcohol use. We found social disadvantages and conditions exacerbated by alcohol use, like depression. Participants were concerned with dying and premature aging, and reported that family could influence behavior change. An intervention should consider (1) integrating family values and (2) increasing knowledge about alcohol use and comorbidities. Further studies are needed to explore family influence on aging Latino day laborers.

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Acknowledgments

Research supported in part by 1 K24 AA015957-05 and 1 R21 AA019738-01A1 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; RCMAR/CHIME Grant P30AG021684 and 1K01AG033122-01A1 from the National Institute on Aging; U54MD007598 (formerly U54RR026138) from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; and the UCLA Career Development Program in Cancer Prevention and Control Research, NIH/NCI R25CA087949 (PI: R. Bastani).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, 1731 E. 120th St., Building N, Los Angles, CA, 90059, USA

    Homero E. del Pino

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Homero E. del Pino

  3. School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Corvallis, OR, USA

    Carolyn Méndez-Luck

  4. Cancer Prevention and Control Research, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Georgiana Bostean

  5. Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Karina Ramírez & Alison A. Moore

  6. Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Marlom Portillo

Authors
  1. Homero E. del Pino
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  2. Carolyn Méndez-Luck
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  3. Georgiana Bostean
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  4. Karina Ramírez
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  5. Marlom Portillo
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  6. Alison A. Moore
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Correspondence to Homero E. del Pino.

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del Pino, H.E., Méndez-Luck, C., Bostean, G. et al. Leveraging Family Values to Decrease Unhealthy Alcohol Use in Aging Latino Day Laborers. J Immigrant Minority Health 15, 1001–1007 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9700-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-012-9700-9

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