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

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

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03631745
Enrollment
1713
Registered
2018-08-15
Start date
2020-02-09
Completion date
2025-12-31
Last updated
2026-07-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Help-Seeking Behavior, Stigma, Social

Keywords

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

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.

Detailed description

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. A total of 12 churches (6 intervention and 6 wait-list control) will be enrolled in the study. Churches within each study site, the Riverside County parishes and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, will be matched in pairs based on size and geography. Three matched pairs from each study site will be randomly selected and then randomly assigned within each pair to intervention or control. The planned study will involve 2400 participants (1200 intervention and 1200 control) who will be part of congregations that are randomly assigned to receive the church-based intervention immediately or a wait list control condition. Participants will be assessed at baseline, 6-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up to evaluate intervention effects on mental health service use and potential mediators (i.e., mental health literacy, stigma).

Interventions

BEHAVIORALNAMI Mental Health 101 and NAMI FaithNet

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.

Sponsors

RAND
Lead SponsorOTHER
National Alliance on Mental Illness California
CollaboratorUNKNOWN

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

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.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Congregant of selected intervention and control churches

Exclusion criteria

* Does not meet criteria above

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Mental Health Service UseMental Health Service Use between Baseline and 12-month Follow-upChange 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.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Mental Illness StigmaMental Illness Stigma reduction between Baseline and 12-month Follow-upChange in stigma among participants in intervention churches versus those in control churches. Personal stigma will be assessed with social distance measures, one of the most widely used indicators of stigma. Social distance is assessed by asking respondents to rate their degree of willingness to interact with someone with a mental illness in various interpersonal situations (e.g., work closely on a job; live next door; spend an evening socializing; marry into the family; as a friend). Jorm AF, Oh E. Desire for social distance from people with mental disorders. The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry. 2009;43(3):183-200.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOREunice C Wong

RAND

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jul 9, 2026