This article explores and examines Santería's function as a culturally congruent informal mental health support that assists U.S. Latinos to cope with the psychosocial sequelae of living with cancer. Research has demonstrated that Santería serves as a mediating institution for many Latinos. The tradition functions as both a religion and a health care system within various Latino subgroups and has functioned as an informal mental health service in occurrences of health versus illness.
Keywords: Latino; Santería; cancer; folk healing; mental health; psychosocial.