Mental Health and the Generation Gap in Cuba

When Regina Del Pilar ’23 was searching for the perfect school for her collegiate years, she knew she wanted an institution with a dual-degree program in pharmacy and plenty of opportunities for learning and engagement both in and out of the classroom.

 

A dedicated leader both in the classroom and in her many extracurriculars, Regina was looking to take her experiential learning to the next level with her participation in the Cuba Experience – a faculty-led, credit-bearing course which allows students to experience beautiful Havana while pursuing independent research and passion projects.

As a biology and psychology double major with a passion for mental health awareness and medicine, Regina sought to explore mental health perceptions in college-aged and geriatric populations in both the United States and Cuba, with her project “Cross-Cultural & Generational Impacts on the Perception of Mental Health in Cuba vs the United States”.

“Cuba is a communist nation. They have mandatory, yearly health checkups with their primary provider, and part of that checkup [involves] a mental health evaluation. I was really curious about the general thoughts surrounding that and how it has changed from the influences of Fidel Castro."

With aid from a Cater Society grant and an approved IRB in hand, Regina set forth to Havana with her research methods – a sample group of thirty-two participants set to answer general demographic questions alongside a personal values survey derived from the Schwartz Portrait Values Questionnaire, a survey aimed to screen how personal values affect behaviors and beliefs. Along with the surveys, participants also engaged in semi-structured interviews in which they “reported their attitudes towards mental health/illness and its acknowledgement throughout their childhood.”

Having collected her data and enjoying Cuba with classmates, Regina took to analyzing her data, finding similarities in sample groups across the board; “Across sample groups, patterns of isolation/loneliness, stigma, recovery, treatment, and education were found most prominently, while quantitative data did not render any significant results.”

Upon completion of her project, Regina presented her findings to the Cater Society, having found her experiences in Cuba enriching, and hopes her research will bring greater awareness to how perceptions of mental health vary across cultures; “A big thing is that treatment for mental illnesses is very personalized and not one-size-fits-all. In order for the education efforts we share with other[s] to be effective, we need to talk to people in a way they understand using familiar language. Also, that geriatric mental illness is quite common and something we all should be on the lookout for in our grandparents and other elders we know.”

After much hard work and perseverance, Regina will be attending the University of Maryland, Baltimore to pursue her doctorate in Pharmacy, with hopes of specializing in pediatric or psychiatric medication, if not both; “I want to do pharmacy with a focus in psychiatric medication, and I think it’s really important to have a holistic understanding of the patients you’ll be seeing – especially regarding mental wellbeing, since it is still considered very taboo to some people. An important aspect of my research was investigating the origin of perspective; something that, obviously, differs across cultures and generations. I want to be cognizant of things like that.”

To further explore The Cuba Experience and other experiential learning offering here at WC, check out WC’s Study Abroad program. 

06/15/2023