Dietary intake during a pragmatic cluster-randomized weight loss trial in an underserved population in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Currently there are limited data as to whether dietary intake can be improved during pragmatic weight loss interventions in primary care in underserved individuals. METHODS: Patients with obesity were recruited into the PROPEL trial, which randomized 18 clinics to either an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) or usual care (UC). At baseline and months 6, 12, and 24, fruit and vegetable (F/V) intake and fat intake was determined. Outcomes were analyzed by repeated-measures linear mixed-effects multilevel models and regression models, which included random cluster (clinic) effects. Secondary analyses examined the effects of race, sex, age, and food security status. RESULTS: A total of 803 patients were recruited. 84.4% were female, 67.2% African American, 26.1% received Medicaid, and 65.5% made less than $40,000. No differences in F/V intake were seen between the ILI and UC groups at months 6, 12, or 24. The ILI group reduced percent fat at months 6, 12, and 24 compared to UC. Change in F/V intake was negatively correlated with weight change at month 6 whereas change in fat intake was positively associated with weight change at months 6, 12, and 24 for the ILI group. CONCLUSIONS: The pragmatic weight loss intervention in primary care did not increase F/V intake but did reduce fat intake in an underserved population with obesity. F/V intake was negatively associated with weight loss at month 6 whereas percent fat was positively correlated with weight loss throughout the intervention. Future efforts better targeting both increasing F/V intake and reducing fat intake may promote greater weight loss in similar populations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT Registration: NCT02561221.

A Rapid Assessment of Disaster Preparedness Needs and Resources during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: This year has seen the emergence of two major crises, a significant increase in the frequency and severity of hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known as to how each of these two events have impacted the other. A rapid qualitative assessment was conducted to determine the impact of the pandemic on preparedness and response to natural disasters and the impact of past experiences with natural disasters in responding to the pandemic. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 representatives of 24 different community-based programs in southern Louisiana. Data were analyzed using procedures embedded in the Rapid Assessment Procedure-Informed Community Ethnography methodology, using techniques of immersion and crystallization and focused thematic analysis. Results: The pandemic has impacted the form and function of disaster preparedness, making it harder to plan for evacuations in the event of a hurricane. Specific concerns included being able to see people in person, providing food and other resources to residents who shelter in place, finding volunteers to assist in food distribution and other forms of disaster response, competing for funds to support disaster-related activities, developing new support infrastructures, and focusing on equity in disaster preparedness. However, several strengths based on disaster preparedness experience and capabilities were identified, including providing a framework for how to respond and adapt to COVID and integration of COVID response with their normal disaster preparedness activities. Conclusions: Although prior experience has enabled community-based organizations to respond to the pandemic, the pandemic is also creating new challenges to preparing for and responding to natural disasters.

Interventions for incarcerated adults with opioid use disorder in the United States: A systematic review with a focus on social determinants of health.

Incarceration poses significant health risks for people involved in the criminal justice system. As the world's leader in incarceration, the United States incarcerated population is at higher risk for infectious diseases, mental illness, and substance use disorder. Previous studies indicate that the mortality rate for people coming out of prison is almost 13 times higher than that of the general population; opioids contribute to nearly 1 in 8 post-release fatalities overall, and almost half of all overdose deaths. Given the hazardous intersection of incarceration, opioid use disorder, and social determinants of health, we systematically reviewed recent evidence on interventions for opioid use disorder (OUD) implemented as part of United States criminal justice system involvement, with an emphasis on social determinants of health (SDOH). We searched academic literature to identify eligible studies of an intervention for OUD that was implemented in the context of criminal justice system involvement (e.g., incarceration or parole/probation) for adults ages 19 and older. From 6,604 citations, 13 publications were included in final synthesis. Most interventions were implemented in prisons (n = 6 interventions), used medication interventions (n = 10), and did not include SDOH as part of the study design (n = 8). Interventions that initiated medication treatment early and throughout incarceration had significant, positive effects on opioid use outcomes. Evidence supports medication treatment administered throughout the period of criminal justice involvement as an effective method of improving post-release outcomes in individuals with criminal justice involvement. While few studies included SDOH components, many investigators recognized SDOH needs as competing priorities among justice-involved individuals. This review suggests an evidence gap; evidence-based interventions that address OUD and SDOH in the context of criminal justice involvement are urgently needed.

Resilience Against Depression Disparities (RADD): a protocol for a randomised comparative effectiveness trial for depression among predominantly low-income, racial/ethnic, sexual and gender minorities.

INTRODUCTION: Depression is the leading cause of adult disability and common among sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults. The current study builds on findings showing the effectiveness of depression quality improvement (QI) and delivery of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills provided by community health workers in reducing depression. Depression QI approaches across healthcare and social/community services in safety-net settings have shown improvements in mental wellness, mental health quality of life and depression over 12 months. Further, a randomised study showed improved depression among low-income racial/ethnic minorities enrolled in a CBT-informed resiliency class (Building Resilience and Increasing Community Hope (B-RICH)). The current protocol describes a comparativeness effectiveness study to evaluate whether predominantly low-income, SGM racial/ethnic minority adults randomised to a CBT-informed resiliency class have improvements in depressive symptoms over and above community-engaged QI resources and training only. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study approached three clusters of four to five programs serving predominantly SGM and racial/ethnic minority communities in the USA: two clusters in Los Angeles, California, and one in New Orleans, Louisiana. Clusters are comprised of one primary care, one mental health and two to three community agencies (eg, faith-based, social services/support, advocacy). All programs received depression QI training. The current study employed a community-partnered participatory research model to adapt the CBT-informed resiliency class, B-RICH+, to SGM communities. Study participants were screened and recruited in person from participating programs, and will complete baseline, 6- and 12-month survey follow-ups. Participants were depressed adults (8-item Patient Health Questionnaire ≥10; ≥18 years of age) who provided contact information. Enrolled participants were individually randomised to B-RICH+ or depression QI alone. Primary outcomes are depressive symptoms; secondary outcomes are mental health quality of life, mental wellness and physical health quality of life. Data collection for this study is ongoing. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The current study was approved by the UCLA Institutional Review Board. Study findings will be disseminated through scientific publications and community conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02986126.

Lessons on Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Strategies for Pipeline to Proposal Awards.

The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) supports patient-centered clinical comparative effectiveness research (CER) including health disparities and engagement portfolios. In 2013, PCORI launched the Pipeline to Proposal (P2P) mechanism to support development of novel patient- and stakeholder-centered partnerships focused on designing clinical CER funding proposals. By providing a tiered structure of successive small contracts and technical assistance, the P2P mechanism encourages development of new research partnerships among diverse stakeholders. As a comparatively new field, patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) has few well-delineated methods for engaging patients and other non-scientists in effective teams with academics or clinicians to develop and implement rigorous, scientific research proposals. Community partnered participatory research (CPPR) provides a useful framework for structuring new partnerships. In this article we highlight the origins, development, and prospects of three current examples of funded P2P initiatives based in New Orleans and Los Angeles. We outline how these projects - Prisoner to Patient, the NOLA Partnership, and Resilience Among African American Men - use CPPR principles. We also describe how they have collaborated with, and contributed to, a two-way learning and knowledge exchange among members of the PCORI-funded Community and Patient Partnered Research Network. Lessons learned may be applicable to other groups planning to create new partnerships focused on implementing PCOR.

Case Study of Resilient Baton Rouge: Applying Depression Collaborative Care and Community Planning to Disaster Recovery.

BACKGROUND: Addressing behavioral health impacts of major disasters is a priority of increasing national attention, but there are limited examples of implementation strategies to guide new disaster responses. We provide a case study of an effort being applied in response to the 2016 Great Flood in Baton Rouge. METHODS: Resilient Baton Rouge was designed to support recovery after major flooding by building local capacity to implement an expanded model of depression collaborative care for adults, coupled with identifying and responding to local priorities and assets for recovery. For a descriptive, initial evaluation, we coupled analysis of documents and process notes with descriptive surveys of participants in initial training and orientation, including preliminary comparisons among licensed and non-licensed participants to identify training priorities. RESULTS: We expanded local behavioral health service delivery capacity through subgrants to four agencies, provision of training tailored to licensed and non-licensed providers and development of advisory councils and partnerships with grassroots and government agencies. We also undertook initial efforts to enhance national collaboration around post-disaster resilience. CONCLUSION: Our partnered processes and lessons learned may be applicable to other communities that aim to promote resilience, as well as planning for and responding to post-disaster behavioral health needs.

Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network (C-LEARN): Study Protocol with Participatory Planning for a Randomized, Comparative Effectiveness Trial.

This manuscript presents the protocol and participatory planning process for implementing the Community Resilience Learning Collaborative and Research Network (C-LEARN) study. C-LEARN is designed to determine how to build a service program and individual client capacity to improve mental health-related quality of life among individuals at risk for depression, with exposure to social risk factors or concerns about environmental hazards in areas of Southern Louisiana at risk for events such as hurricanes and storms. The study uses a Community Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) framework to incorporate community priorities into study design and implementation. The first phase of C-LEARN is assessment of community priorities, assets, and opportunities for building resilience through key informant interviews and community agency outreach. Findings from this phase will inform the implementation of a two-level (program-level and individual client level) randomized study in up to four South Louisiana communities. Within communities, health and social-community service programs will be randomized to Community Engagement and Planning (CEP) for multi-sector coalition support or Technical Assistance (TA) for individual program support to implement evidence-based and community-prioritized intervention toolkits, including an expanded version of depression collaborative care and resources (referrals, manuals) to address social risk factors such as financial or housing instability and for a community resilience approach to disaster preparedness and response. Within each arm, the study will randomize individual adult clients to one of two mobile applications that provide informational resources on services for depression, social risk factors, and disaster response or also provide psychoeducation on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to enhance coping with stress and mood. Planned data collection includes baseline, six-month and brief monthly surveys for clients, and baseline and 12-month surveys for administrators and staff.

Community health workers leading the charge on workforce development: lessons from New Orleans.

Academic institutions and community organizations engaged community health workers (CHWs) in creating a community-appropriate CHW workforce capacity-building program in an area without a previously established CHW professional group. From 2009 to 2010, we solicited New Orleans-based CHWs' opinions about CHW professional development through a survey, a community conference, and workgroup meetings. Throughout 2011 and 2012, we created and implemented a responsive 80-h workforce development program that used popular education techniques. We interviewed CHWs 6 months post-training to assess impressions of the course and application of skills and knowledge to practice. CHWs requested training to develop nationally-recognized core competencies including community advocacy, addresses issues unique to New Orleans, and mitigate common professional challenges. Thirty-five people completed the course. Among 25 interviewees, common themes included positive impressions of the course, application of skills and community-specific information to practice, understanding of CHWs' historical roles as community advocates, and ongoing professional challenges. Engaging CHW participation in workforce development programs is possible in areas lacking organized CHW groups. CHW insight supports development of training that addresses unique local concerns. Trained CHWs require ongoing professional support.

Community engagement in disaster preparedness and recovery: a tale of two cities--Los Angeles and New Orleans.

Awareness of the impact of disasters globally on mental health is increasing. Known difficulties in preparing communities for disasters and a lack of focus on relationship building and organizational capacity in preparedness and response have led to a greater policy focus on community resiliency as a key public health approach to disaster response. In this article, the authors describe how an approach to community engagement for improving mental health services, disaster recovery, and preparedness from a community resiliency perspective emerged from their work in applying a partnered, participatory research framework, iteratively, in Los Angeles County and the City of New Orleans.

Building community resilience through mental health infrastructure and training in post-Katrina New Orleans.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a disaster recovery model focused on developing mental health services and capacity-building within a disparities-focused, community-academic participatory partnership framework. DESIGN: Community-based participatory, partnered training and services delivery intervention in a post-disaster setting. SETTING: Post-Katrina Greater New Orleans community. PARTICIPANTS: More than 400 community providers from more than 70 health and social services agencies participated in the trainings. INTERVENTION: Partnered development of a training and services delivery program involving physicians, therapists, community health workers, and other clinical and non-clinical personnel to improve access and quality of care for mental health services in a post-disaster setting. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Services delivery (outreach, education, screening, referral, direct treatment); training delivery; satisfaction and feedback related to training; partnered development of training products. RESULTS: Clinical services in the form of outreach, education, screening, referral and treatment were provided in excess of 110,000 service units. More than 400 trainees participated in training, and provided feedback that led to evolution of training curricula and training products, to meet evolving community needs over time. Participant satisfaction with training generally scored very highly. CONCLUSION: This paper describes a participatory, health-focused model of community recovery that began with addressing emerging, unmet mental health needs using a disparities-conscious partnership framework as one of the principle mechanisms for intervention. Population mental health needs were addressed by investment in infrastructure and services capacity among small and medium sized non-profit organizations working in disaster-impacted, low resource settings.

Opportunities and challenges of implementing collaborative mental health care in post-Katrina New Orleans.

OBJECTIVES: To describe participants' experiences with training on, and implementation of, a collaborative care mental health approach for treating depression and anxiety in post-disaster New Orleans. DESIGN: Healthcare providers from three organizations that participated in the Mental Health Infrastructure and Training (MHIT) program underwent semi-structured interviews. SETTING: The MHIT program provided training and clinical support to community-based agencies. PARTICIPANTS: Social workers, care/case managers, primary care providers, and a psychiatrist that participated in trainings. INTERVENTION: The MHIT project consisted of a series of trainings and clinical support designed in collaboration with specialists from Tulane University, RAND/UCLA, the University of Washington, and local community organizations with the goal of creating local resources to provide screening, diagnosis, triage, and treatment for depression and anxiety. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Interview participants were asked to describe the impacts of training on the following areas: delivery of mental health services, ability to implement elements of the collaborative care model, care of clients/patients, and development of networks. RESULTS: Interview transcript analysis identified themes highlighting the opportunities and challenges of implementing a collaborative care model. CONCLUSION: Implementation of a collaborative care model for treating depression and anxiety was possible in post-Katrina/Rita New Orleans and has potential for implementation in future post-disaster recovery settings.

Community-based participatory development of a community health worker mental health outreach role to extend collaborative care in post-Katrina New Orleans.

OBJECTIVES: The REACH NOLA Mental Health Infrastructure and Training Project (MHIT) aimed to reduce disparities in access to and quality of services for depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in post-Katrina New Orleans by developing a mental health outreach role for community health workers (CHWs) and case managers as a complement to the collaborative care model for depression treatment. INTERVENTION: Community agency leaders, academics, healthcare organizations, and CHWs engaged in a community participatory process to develop a CHW training program. DESIGN: A review of qualitative data including semi-structured interviews, project team conference calls, email strings, and meeting minutes was conducted to document CHW input into training and responses to implementation. RESULTS: CHW contributions resulted in a training program focused on community engagement, depression screening, education, referral assistance, collaboration with clinical teams, and self-care. CHWs reported use of screening tools, early client successes in spite of challenges with client engagement, increase in networking and collaboration with other community agencies and providers, and ongoing community hurricane recovery issues. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention development approach and model may be used to address post-disaster mental health disparities and as a complement to traditional implementation of collaborative care.

Community perspectives on post-Katrina mental health recovery in New Orleans.

Disaster-affected communities may face prolonged challenges to community-wide mental health recovery due to limitations in local resources, infrastructure, and leadership. REACH NOLA, an umbrella non-profit organization comprising academic institutions and community-based agencies, sought to promote community recovery, increase mental health service delivery capacity, and develop local leadership in post-Katrina New Orleans through its Mental Health infrastructure and Training Project (MHIT). The project offered local health service providers training and follow-up support for implementing evidence-based and new approaches to mental health service delivery. This commentary shares the perspectives of three community leaders who co-directed MHIT. They describe the genesis of MHIT, the experience of each agency in adopting leadership roles in addressing post-disaster needs, challenges and growth opportunities, and then overarching lessons learned concerning leadership in a prolonged crisis. These lessons may be relevant to community agencies addressing hurricane recovery in other areas of the Gulf States as well as to inform long-term disaster recovery efforts elsewhere.

The Partnered Research Center for Quality Care: developing infrastructure to support community-partnered participatory research in mental health.

Evidence-based programs have been shown to improve functioning and mental health outcomes, especially for vulnerable populations. However, these populations face numerous barriers to accessing care including lack of resources and stigma surrounding mental health issues. In order to improve mental health outcomes and reduce health disparities, it is essential to identify methods for reaching such populations with unmet need. A promising strategy for reducing barriers and improving access to care is Community Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR). Given the power of this methodology to transform the impact of research in resource-poor communities, we developed an NIMH-funded Center, the Partnered Research Center for Quality Care, to support partnerships in developing, implementing, and evaluating mental health services research and programs. Guided by a CPPR framework, center investigators, both community and academic, collaborate in all phases of research with the goal of establishing trust, building capacity, increasing buy-in, and improving the sustainability of interventions and programs. We engage in two-way capacity-building, which affords the opportunity for practical problems to be raised and innovative solutions to be developed. This article discusses the development and design of the Partnered Research Center for Quality Care and provides examples of partnerships that have been formed and the work that has been conducted as a result.

Participatory and social media to engage youth: from the Obama campaign to public health practice.

Barack Obama's successful campaign for the presidency has been widely attributed to the use of social networking sites, mobile devices, and interactive websites to engage previously hard-to-reach populations in political activity. Campaign communication strategies may be applicable for youth health promotion efforts, particularly for the highly stigmatized issue of mental health. In this article, we examine elements of the 2008 Obama presidential campaign's use of social media technologies and content designed to foster effective political participation among youth. We outline how the same social media technologies may be applied to public health efforts focused on reaching and providing services to the 20% of young people who have a diagnosable mental disorder. We discuss the strengths and limitations of the application of these media to date, and raise questions about the future use of these media for engaging hard-to-reach populations in addressing stigmatized public health issues.

Rapid community participatory assessment of health care in post-storm New Orleans.

BACKGROUND: Hurricane Katrina and levee failures disrupted healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents. Few models exist to explain community stakeholders' priorities for post-disaster recovery while building capacity for response. This project engaged community stakeholders in a rapid, participatory assessment of health priorities 1 year post-disaster, to inform the policy process and build capacity for recovery planning among community members. METHODS: This project combined community-based participatory research methods and rapid assessment procedures to engage diverse community members in design, conduct, data interpretation, and dissemination of results. Thirty stakeholders in the health and healthcare fields were interviewed in Summer 2006, and four grassroots community discussion groups were held in New Orleans neighborhoods to assess perceptions of the disaster's impacts on healthcare access. Interview transcripts were reviewed in Summer 2006, and themes were elicited using methods rooted in grounded theory. Findings were shared at a public community feedback conference, and recovery-relevant community action steps were set in motion. RESULTS: Three main themes emerged from the data: (1) healthcare access challenges; (2) unmet needs of specific vulnerable populations; (3) opportunities, resources, and community adaptations to improve healthcare access. CONCLUSIONS: This rapid, community-based participatory assessment provided new information on diverse community members' concerns and priorities, and it produced a sustainable community-academic partnership dedicated to improving both access to care and the public's health following this major disaster.