Victor Garcia, distinguished university professor and director
of the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Research and Training Institute (MARTI), presented “The Anexo in the United States: A Transnational Substance
Abuse Disorder Treatment Modality for Latinos” at the Association for Medical
Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA) conference.
Anexos are culturally
appropriate and self-sustaining recovery houses that have structured living
conditions and nightly Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meetings with themes that
resonate with Latino immigrants. Although there is widespread use of anexos in immigrant communities, little
is known about them.
The primary focus of Garcia’s presentation was on the
help-seeking pathways of Latino immigrants who access anexos and the perceptions of benefits and drawbacks to this
modality. Garcia’s presentation also addressed the appeal of anexos to non-immigrant Latinos, as U.S.-born Latinos may have similar help-seeking problems. The presentation was
co-authored with Anna Pagano at the Prevention Research Center in Oakland,
Calif.
AMERSA, founded in 1976, aims to improve health and
well-being through interdisciplinary leadership in substance use education,
research, clinical care, and policy. The conference was held November 5–7, 2015 in
Washington, D.C. and enabled professionals to gather and share developments in substance
abuse education, treatment, and research.