Description

There is a need for delivery of psychological interventions by non-specialists when specialists are unable to meet the service demand. In the United States, training staff at community-based organizations to deliver psychological support has been highlighted as a way to increase availability of mental health services and increase access to mental health care, particularly for underserved populations. This study employs a mental health task-sharing model by partnering with community based organizations in New York City to train community based organizations staff without professional mental health training to deliver mental health services. This study examine the impact of community based organizations staff delivering mental health services to reduce mental health problems. This study is a cluster randomized control trial in New York City comparing Services as Usual arm and delivery of mental health services with Problem Management Plus (Intervention arm) among participating community based organizations. The target condition will be general psychological distress. This study will evaluate mental health outcomes populations served by community based organizations integrating Problem Management Plus into their other activities compared to community based organizations delivering services as usual. This study will evaluate implementation science outcomes to inform policy recommendations for of community-based delivery of psychological interventions. Successful completion of these aims will contribute to the 2020 National Institute of Mental Health Strategic Plan. Specifically, a) employing implementation science to maximize the public health impact of research for improving effectiveness and reach of mental health services, b) strengthening research-practice partnerships to expedite adoption, sustained implementation, and continuous improvement of evidence-based mental health services, and c) developing innovative service delivery models to dramatically improve outcomes of mental health services.