Brazilian immigrants in the United States and mental health: An integrative review

Abstract

Background: Brazilian immigrants are becoming a more visible minority and, although different from other Latinos (in a linguistic, cultural, historical, and ethnic sense), are usually either counted as Latinos, not included in the Latino samples or simply overlooked in research studies. It is essential to understand the stress and pressures they undergo and appreciate their singular perspective and culturally-infused experiences to meet their needs and improve their mental healthcare and quality of life in the United States. Aim: The aim of this review is to understand and describe the experience of Brazilian immigrants in the U.S., related to mental health, assessing what studies have addressed and what is still needing to be researched. Method: We carried out an integrative review of peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2022 using PychInfo, PubMed, and Proquest, addressing mental health of Brazilian immigrants in the United States. Results: A total of 10 articles were included revealing the interest of a variety of fields and uncovering three themes: (1) mental healthcare needs (especially warmth and understanding of culture), (2) common sources of support and stress in the community and work, and (3) Socioeconomic aspects related to their mental health, including discrimination, work-life balance, neighborhood cohesion, and acculturation. Conclusions: Results may be useful to practitioners, researchers, and policy makers, who should be attentive to client’s familiarity with the English language, their sources of support, spirituality, specific Brazilian traits, their feeling of ‘being invisible’, life in community, and their previous experiences with healthcare in Brazil.