Bluthenthal R, Jones L, Ellison M, Koegel P, Minnium K, Lucas-Wright A, Wells K; AcademyHealth. Meeting (2004 : San Diego, Calif.).
Abstr AcademyHealth Meet. 2004; 21: abstract no. 1104.
RAND, Behavioral Health Sciences, 1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407 Tel. 310.393.0411 Ext. 6642 Fax 310.451.7004
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Research indicates that depression treatment may have even greater positive outcomes among people of color than whites. Yet, no model has been developed, to date, to bring mental health Research suggests that minorities are less likely than whites to receive appropriate care for depression yet benefit at least as much or more from interventions that improve depression care. Yet no model has been developed to increase public engagement in depression treatment among minority communities. This presentation involves an intervention and evaluation model, and preliminary findings from such a community-based effort. STUDY DESIGN: Witness for Wellness is a community-partnered participatory research (CPPR) project with active community involvement in all stages. The project was initiated by Healthy African American Families, a community based organization (CBO) in South Los Angeles, UCLA, Charles R Drew Medical University, and RAND. The stages are: 1) coalition development; 2) community conferences; 3) formation of working groups to develop and implement strategies; 4) participatory evaluation using mixed methods, such as pre-post surveys of conferences, qualitative studies, and secondary data sources. POPULATION STUDIED: South Los Angeles, CA, a predominantly African American and Latino community. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Over 30 CBOs joined and participated in coalition planning for a year. A local conference attracted 500 community members, 60 of whom later formulated plans for 3 working groups: Talking Wellness (reducing stigma and increasing community strength); Building Wellness (assuring assess and services quality); Supporting Wellness (policy and advocacy to protect vulnerable populations). As an example of evaluation data, 370 conference participants completed a survey: 50% worked in a CBO, 20% were providers, 15% government employees, 10% academics, and 5% grass roots community members; 50% were African American and 30% Hispanic; and most (90%) were women. The surveys suggested that attendees became better educated about signs and symptoms of depression and the value of and how to obtain treatments. Forty roundtable discussions were recorded by trained notetakers and coded by community and academic partners. Qualitative analysis suggested that depression is viewed primarily as a community problem. Key barriers to treatment included lack of knowledge of resources, social stigma, cultural values (e.g., that spirituality should suffice, keeping problems in the family, stoicism), endemic racism and fear of the dominant cultures solution to our problem, and normalization or accommodation to this illness. Community members reported that they turned for help most often to non-familial social intimates. The presentation will provide further detail on the intervention model and evaluation findings. CONCLUSIONS: Participatory models are feasible for engaging community members in a research effort to address depression; but this demonstration has to date been more successful in engaging African Americans and women. Additional strategies are needed to reach diversity goals. The approach yields data that both community and academic partners are empowered to share. The effectiveness of the model is the subject of future study. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY, DELIVERY OR PRACTICE: National clinical research recommendations call for new models of community participation. This mental health project demonstrates one such approach that holds potential to address this research and policy need, through empowering community members as research partners and empowering academic investigators as community intervention partners.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- African Americans
- Consumer Participation
- Cooperative Behavior
- Depression
- Female
- Health Services
- Health Services Accessibility
- Health Services Research
- Hispanic Americans
- Humans
- Los Angeles
- Mental Health
- Minority Groups
- Prejudice
- Research
- Universities
- hsrmtgs
UI: 103624138
From Meeting Abstracts