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Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Address Mental Health Disparities for Underserved Populations: A Systematic Review

Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research volume 45, pages 195–211 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

This systematic review evaluates efforts to date to involve community health workers (CHWs) in delivering evidence-based mental health interventions to underserved communities in the United States and in low- and middle-income countries. Forty-three articles (39 trials) were reviewed to characterize the background characteristics of CHW, their role in intervention delivery, the types of interventions they delivered, and the implementation supports they received. The majority of trials found that CHW-delivered interventions led to symptom reduction. Training CHWs to support the delivery of evidence-based practices may help to address mental health disparities. Areas for future research as well as clinical and policy implications are discussed.

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Funding

Funding for this project was supported by NIMH K01MH110608 (Barnett).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology, University of California, Gervitz Graduate School of Education, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-9490, USA

    Miya L. Barnett

  2. Department of Psychology, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Araceli Gonzalez

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jeanne Miranda

  4. Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Denise A. Chavira & Anna S. Lau

Authors
  1. Miya L. Barnett
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  2. Araceli Gonzalez
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  3. Jeanne Miranda
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  4. Denise A. Chavira
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  5. Anna S. Lau
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Correspondence to Miya L. Barnett.

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Barnett, M.L., Gonzalez, A., Miranda, J. et al. Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Address Mental Health Disparities for Underserved Populations: A Systematic Review. Adm Policy Ment Health 45, 195–211 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-017-0815-0

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Keywords

  • Community health workers
  • Mental health disparities