The Latina/o Health Literacy Research Group

Welcome!

Welcome to the Latina/o Health Literacy Research Group in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health. Our goal is to reduce inequities in healthcare related to cancer and mental health with ethnic minorities, specifically the Latino community. We aim to accomplish this goal by:

• examining cultural factors that influence cancer screening and survivorship,
• conducting systematic community-based assessments of cancer education and mental health needs,
• providing guidelines for the development of community-informed health literacy materials, and
• developing measures to assess health literacy in immigrant populations.

Our efforts focus on understanding and promoting health literacy to empower Latinas/os who often are underserved in clinical settings and underrepresented in the research literature. Projects from the lab have been federally funded by the National Institutes of Health and published widely in professional journals, including:

• The Counseling Psychologist
• Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
• Cancer
• Health Promotion Practice.

Research

Projects Include:

• Psychosocial determinants of breast and cervical cancer screening in Latina women
• Cancer education needs assessment of Latina women in Central Illinois
• Cultural factors influencing prostate cancer screening in Latino men
• Psychological needs of Latina breast cancer survivors diagnosed once
• Psychological needs of Latina breast cancer survivors diagnosed twice
• Experiences of Latina breast cancer survivors with lymphedema
• Needs assessment of formal supports available for Latina breast cancer survivors
• Measurement of cancer health literacy among immigrant women

Recent Publications:

• Buki, L. P., Salazar, S. I., & Pitton, V. O. (in press). Design elements for the development of cancer education print materials for a Latina/o audience. Health Promotion Practice.
• Buki, L. P., & Selem, M. (in press). Cancer screening and survivorship in Latino populations: A primer for psychologists. In F. A. Villarruel, G. Carlo, J. M. Grau, M. Azmitia, N. Cabrera, & T. J. Chahin (Eds.), U.S. Handbook of Latina/o Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Buki, L. P., Garcés, D. M., Hinestrosa, M. C., Kogan, L., Carrillo, I. Y., & French, B. (2008). Latina breast cancer survivors' lived experiences: Diagnosis, treatment, and beyond. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14, 163-167.
• Buki, L. P. (2007). Reducing health disparities: The perfect fit for counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 706-715.
• Buki, L. P., Jamison, J., Anderson, C. J., & Cuadra, A. M. (2007). Differences in predictors of cervical and breast cancer screening by screening need in uninsured Latina women. Cancer, 110, 1578-1585.
• Banks, M. E., Buki, L. P., Gallardo, M. E., & Yee, B. W. K. (2007). Integrative healthcare and marginalized populations. In I. Serlin (Series Ed.), Humanizing healthcare: A handbook for healthcare integration: Vol I. Mind-Body Medicine (pp. 147-173). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.
• Schiffner, T., & Buki, L. P. (2006). Latina college students' sexual health beliefs about Human Papillomavirus infection. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12, 687-696.

Lab Members

• Principal Investigator:
• Lydia P. Buki, Ph.D.
• Graduate Students:
• Iris Carrillo
• Carol Fonseca
• Bryana French
• Nallely Galvan
• Jorja Jamison
• Jennifer Mayfield
• Yadira Montoya
• Zully Rivera-Ramos
• Melissa Selem
• Undergraduate Students:
• Brittany Carbonara
• Lisa Carlson
• Victoria Coraglio
• Vanessa Soto
• Brittany Triche

If you are interested in joining the lab or have any questions, please contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Lydia P. Buki by phone 217-265-5491 or by email buki@illinois.edu.