Culturally-focused Consultation for Asian Americans and Latino Americans (CFP)

Mass General Brigham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Depression

Treatments: Behavioral: Culturally focused psychiatric consultation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01239407

2009-P-000954

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to determine if a culturally focused psychiatric (CFP) consultation service can improve depressive symptoms and increase diagnosis and treatment of depression in Asian American and Latino American primary care patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Full description

This study's aim is to determine if a culturally focused mental health consultation will help Latino and Asian Americans who are experiencing sadness, stress, or other symptoms of depression. Eligible adults must already have a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In this study, patients will be randomly assigned, like the flip of a coin, to receive the culturally focused intervention or treatment as usual. Those who receive the intervention will have three sessions with study personnel, during which they will generally discuss and learn techniques for dealing with their mental health. Those who receive treatment as usual, meaning the regular care they receive through their primary care practice, will have two sessions with study personnel during which they will generally discuss their mental health. All study visits and patient materials are provided in patients' language of choice - English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, or Vietnamese. All patients will be compensated for completing study visits.

About half of the study patients in both arms will also be invited to participate in optional qualitative interviews, in which they will be asked questions about their expectations for the research study and their ideas for improving culturally sensitive mental health services. In addition, a small sample of Asian American patients who did not participate in the study but who have PCPs at the sites where the study was conducted will be contacted for a qualitative interview. This interview will address reasons why Asian American recruitment for the study was so challenging.

Enrollment: 122 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Capable of giving informed consent
• Adults 18 years of age or older
• Members of either Asian American or Latino American minority groups
• Currently experiencing depressive symptoms

Exclusion criteria

• Active unstable, untreated psychiatric illness precluding participation in study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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122 participants in 2 patient groups

Treatment as usual

No Intervention group

Description:

The treatment as usual arm consists of two phone or in-person interviews: 1. Patients are asked questions about their mental health, their views of mental health, and how they cope with their mental health (including any treatment they might be receiving). 2. Patients are asked the same questions 6 months after the initial interview.

Culturally focused psychiatric consultation

Experimental group

Description:

The consultation is comprised of 3 visits: 1a. Psychiatric diagnostic interview, self-rated questionnaires (in-person consultation). 1b. Intervention focused on learning about depression and how to treat it using culturally relevant resources. 2. Follow-up visit two weeks later to go over patients' questions, homework if applicable, and patients' ability to meet the goals outlined in the first visit (in-person or phone visit). 3. 6-month follow up: 6 months after the initial consultation, patients are asked about mental health symptoms and mental health treatment they might be receiving (phone visit unless patient requests in-person).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Culturally focused psychiatric consultation