Abstract
Evidence suggests that schizophrenia is highly responsive to the sociocultural and emotional atmosphere of the family. Therapies have shown an improvement in schizophrenia symptoms following family-oriented interventions. However, most programs are developed and offered in English only, and few are culturally informed. Existing programs may fail to meet the needs of minorities, particularly Hispanics/Latinos, the largest minority group in the United States. In this article, a broad literature is reviewed, which strongly supports the integration of culturally based treatment approaches with existing psychoeducational family-focused interventions to enhance treatment programs for Hispanic/Latino patients and families coping with schizophrenia. On the basis of this conceptual integration, an intervention titled "culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia" is described.
