Nassau Alternative Spanish Speaking Treatment Services

The Need for Spanish Speaking Counseling

The Spanish-speaking community on Long Island makes up around 15% of the total population. Struggling with drug addiction and not being able to speak English is tough. At Nassau Alternative, when you work with a counselor, you will be able to speak your language to better communicate what you are feeling. Recently, a demographic shift has been observed in the opioid epidemic with dramatic increases in opioid misuse and overdose deaths among Hispanic/Latino populations. CDC reports that high school Hispanic youth had the highest prevalence of select illicit drug use and prescription opioid misuse compared to the total high school youth population. Similarly, the National Institute on Drug Abuse 2018 Monitoring The Future survey indicates that in general, Hispanic eighth graders had the highest levels of substance misuse across all substances compared to all other ethnic groups. Among Hispanics, the opioid-related overdose death rate were higher than than in the non-Hispanic populations. In 2018, New York Hispanic opioid-related deaths were second only to California.

Factors Associated With Accessing Services

Familismo emphasizes the critical role of internal family dynamics, extended social networks, and the distribution of resources through these networks. This concept is critical to prevention, treatment, and recovery approaches for Hispanic/Latino communities. In general, SUD treatment interventions based on family system models and involvement of family members throughout the treatment continuum, from engagement through continuing care have shown success.