The physical health care needs of Latinxs (Latinx is a term adopted by advocates to refer to men and women, Latinos and Latinas) with serious mental illness (SMI)—individuals unable to complete education, work, or independent living goals because of psychiatric illness—are hindered by a fragmented care system that fails to meet their cultural concerns. Research on African Americans with SMI showed peer navigator programs (PNPs) to be 1 possible solution to these kinds of problems. Peer navigators are full-time, provider agency employees in recovery from SMI and from the same ethnic group as service recipients (Latinx). They partner with service recipients in day-to-day tasks to help them better engage in and benefit from health care systems.
