Delivering Church-based Interventions to Reduce Stigma and Mental Health Treatment Disparities Among Latinos

NCT03631745 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: R01MD012638
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,713
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial of a Latino church-based intervention in Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. This study aims to leverage the collective resources of Latino religious congregations and the National Alliance on Mental Illness to test the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention directed at reducing stigma, increasing mental health literacy, and improving access to mental health services.

Conditions

Help-Seeking Behavior; Stigma, Social

Keywords

mental health literacy; stigma; help-seeking; Latino; faith-based; religious congregations; contact-based interventions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Mental Health Service Use

  Change in mental health service use among participants in intervention churches versus those in control churches. Mental health service use will be measured with the following modified item from the California Health Interview Survey: "In the past 12 months have you seen a professional, such as a counselor, psychiatrist, or social worker for problems with your mental health, emotions, nerves, or your use of alcohol or drugs?" Response options are dichotomous (Yes/No). Tran LD, Ponce NA. Who Gets Needed Mental Health Care? Use of Mental Health Services among Adults with Mental Health Need in California. Calif J Health Promot. 2017;15(1):36-45. PubMed PMID: 28729814; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5515380.

  Mental Health Service Use between Baseline and 12-month Follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Mental Illness Stigma

  Mental Illness Stigma reduction between Baseline and 12-month Follow-up

Study Arms (2)

NAMI Mental Health 101 and NAMI FaithNet

EXPERIMENTAL

Mental Health 101 and FaithNet

Behavioral: NAMI Mental Health 101 and NAMI FaithNet

Wait-list Control

NO INTERVENTION

After the 12-month follow-up, wait-list control churches will be provided with the opportunity to receive Mental Health 101 and NAMI FaithNet interventions.

Interventions

NAMI Mental Health 101 and NAMI FaithNet BEHAVIORAL

Congregants of Intervention Churches will receive: 1. NAMI Mental Health 101, a 60-90 minute, contact-based educational intervention 2. NAMI FaithNet which consists of congregational support and training to cultivate supportive environments within faith communities for those with mental health conditions and their families.

NAMI Mental Health 101 and NAMI FaithNet

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Congregant of selected intervention and control churches

You may not qualify if:

• Does not meet criteria above

Sponsors & Collaborators

• RAND: lead
• National Alliance on Mental Illness California: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

RAND

Santa Monica, California, 90401, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Wong EC, Martinez MO, Han B, Seelam R, Derose KP. Cluster-Randomized Trial of a Multilevel Parish-Based Intervention to Improve Mental Health Literacy and Reduce Stigma in Hispanic Communities. Res Sq [Preprint]. 2025 Oct 26:rs.3.rs-7017764. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7017764/v1.

  PMID: 41282142 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Help-Seeking Behavior; Social Stigma

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Eunice C Wong

  RAND

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Senior Behavioral Scientist

Model Details: The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of California has developed Mental Health 101, a suite of contact-based education programs tailored for culturally diverse populations including Latino populations. Another NAMI program, FaithNet, provides resources and training on how churches can shape norms and overcome shame and stigma related to mental illness and treatment. NAMI FaithNet also assists with facilitating linkages to mental health services from providing referrals to partner mental health agencies to forming multi-sector collaboratives of social service organizations, clergy, and mental health providers to create a more holistic, coordinated system of care. The multi-component, church-based, intervention will build on NAMI's existing resources, with tailoring for Latino church-based settings.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 2, 2018
• First Posted: August 15, 2018
• Study Start: February 9, 2020
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion: December 31, 2025
• Last Updated: June 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)