Mental Health Perspectives Among Black Americans Receiving Services From a Church-Affiliated Mental Health Clinic.

Black Americans face substantial barriers to mental health services that are due, in part, to historical and contemporary issues of anti-Black racism. Identifying novel models of care that increase access and engagement in mental health services is important. One such model was developed by a predominantly Black church in Harlem, New York City, which built a free mental health clinic to serve the surrounding community. However, treatment barriers and facilitators of this care model have not been reported. Therefore, the authors conducted a qualitative study to identify Black Americans' (N=15) perspectives of their experiences seeking and receiving care from this church-affiliated mental health clinic and the role of the church in promoting mental health service utilization. Treatment facilitators included health care that was free of charge, services affiliated with a trusted institution, and access to culturally competent care that integrated their faith perspectives. Participants perceived the churches as having the potential to provide psychoeducation, destigmatization, and connection to mental health services. The perspectives shared suggest that this novel model of care may address several barriers to mental health care faced by some Black American populations.

Engaging African American Clergy and Community Members to Increase Access to Evidence-Based Practices for Depression.

African American clergy provide informal counseling for community members with depression. Through a qualitative case study with two African American clergy and 25 community members in New York City, the authors explored perspectives on training clergy in interpersonal counseling (IPC). Data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. Results were grouped into three themes: mistrust of institutions, depression stigma, and feasibility of training clergy in IPC. Clergy members wanted IPC training but did not want to counsel more people. Thus, training clergy may be insufficient to reduce racial disparities in access to evidence-based depression services.

Partnering with African American Churches to Create a Community Coalition for Mental Health.

Community partnered participatory research (CPPR) emphasizes community engagement, respect, and empowerment as guiding principles to promote mental health equity. This article describes the "Vision" stage of a CPPR-informed model to implement evidence-based practices for depression in two African American churches in Harlem, New York. Essential parts of the Vision include engagement of stakeholders and collaborative planning. The engagement process increased awareness about the project via a community-focused mental health symposium. The collaborative planning stage resulted in creating a multi-disciplinary Community Coalition for Mental Health, establishing the Coalition's values, agreeing to change the initial chosen study intervention from Interpersonal Counseling to Mental Health First Aid, and developing a website to disseminate the group's work. Key lessons learned from our partnered process are: 1) support from the lead pastor is crucial; 2) balancing community and academic interests can be challenging; 3) icebreaker activities foster relationships and reinforce CPPR principles; 4) multiple communication channels can enhance community participation; and, 5) should organize data in ways that make them easier to interpret.