Harlem Strong Mental Health Coalition: A Multi-sector Community-Engaged Collaborative for System Transformation
City University of New York, School of Public Health
Summary
Addressing health disparities, especially in the face of coronavirus pandemic, requires an integrated multi-sector equity-focused, community-based approach. This study will examine the impact of Harlem Strong Community Mental Health Collaborative, a community-wide multi-sectoral coalition in which a health insurer works with a network of community-based organizations, medical providers, and behavioral health providers to engage in a network-wide implementation planning process to: (1) problem-solve financing, access, and quality of care barriers, (2) support capacity building for mental health (MH) task-sharing for community health workers, (3) facilitate coordination and collaboration across MH/behavioral health, primary care, and a range of social services, including case management, housing supports, financial education, employment support, and other community resources to improve linkages to services, and (4) identify a set of common MH, social risk, and health metrics and strategies to integrate these metrics into data systems across the network for continuous quality improvement of the system. The long-term goal of our study is to develop sustainable model for task-sharing MH care that will be embedded in a coordinated comprehensive network of services, including primary care, behavioral/MH, social services, and other community resources.
Description
This study examines the impact of Harlem Strong Community Mental Health Collaborative, a community-wide multi-sectoral coalition in which a health insurer works with community-based organizations and medical and behavioral health providers to (1) problem-solve financing, access, and quality of care barriers, (2) support capacity building for MH task-sharing for community health workers, (3) facilitate coordination and collaboration across MH/behavioral health, primary care, and social services, and (4) identify a set of common metrics and strategies for continuous system quality improvement. T…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Black and Latino adults between 18 and 65 years * Harlem residents from low-income housing developments or receiving primary care services in Harlem * PHQ-4 Total Score ≥3, moderate risk for depression Exclusion Criteria: * Those with risk for depression or anxiety who screen positive for severe mental illness (e.g., psychosis, mania, substance abuse, and high suicide risk) using screening items from the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview will be excluded from the study and referred to MH services at higher levels of care
Interventions
- BehavioralMH task-sharing training
Providers will be trained to screen for MH, provide education, refer, and coordinate to range of social services. MH training typically consists of education and resources, such as one-time workshops and toolkits, provided with limited technical assistance.
- BehavioralSupervision
Additionally, Community Health Workers (CHWs) will receive bi-weekly group supervision for the first 6-months, and monthly supervision for the remaining year on Zoom from a supervisor at Center for Innovation in Mental Health.
- BehavioralLearning Collaborative
A learning collaborative with multidisciplinary teams from various healthcare organizations will support continuous quality improvement and develop develop structured approach to improve provision of care.
- OtherTechnology Intervention
To be determined by community crowdsourcing after the first phase of implementation of the multisector collaborative care for MH task-sharing.
Locations (2)
- CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health PolicyNew York, New York
- Harlem Congregation for Community ImprovementNew York, New York