Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Leveraging Family Values To Decrease Unhealthy Alcohol Use In Aging Latino Day Laborers, Homero E. Del Pino, Carolyn Méndez-Luck, Georgiana Bostean, Karina Ramírez, Marlom Portillo, Alison A. Moore

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

In one Los Angeles study, 20% of day laborers reported excessive drinking. Older adults are more sensitive to alcohol’s effects, yet heavy drinking persists among Latinos until they are in their 60s. No interventions to reduce heavy drinking exist for aging day laborers. We recruited 14 day laborers aged 50 and older in Los Angeles. We identified their unhealthy alcohol use behaviors and comorbidities and conducted semi-structured interviews to understand their perceptions of unhealthy alcohol use. We found social disadvantages and conditions exacerbated by alcohol use, like depression. Participants were concerned with dying and premature aging, and reported that family …