Preliminary Evidence of Feasibility, Acceptability, and Potential Benefit of a Culturally Responsive Mental Health Engagement Program for Hispanic Adults, Pensamientos y Pláticas

Background/Objectives: Hispanic adults in the United States seek and access professional mental health services at a disproportionately lower rate than non-Hispanic White adults, despite having similar rates of mental health challenges. Community focus groups held in El Paso, Texas, in 2022 revealed both systemic and individual-level factors that serve as barriers to help-seeking and access. Participant recommendations for overcoming these barriers included increasing mental health education and improving the cultural responsiveness and navigability of mental health services. Stemming from these findings and informed by the literature on trauma-informed practice, culturally responsive interventions, and evidence-informed practices, we developed and pilot-tested a 4-week closed group community-grounded mental health engagement program called Pensamientos y Pláticas. Methods: The program was offered to 82 participants. Paired-sample t-tests were used to analyze differences between pre- and post-intervention data for the outcome variables assessed: stigma and emotional well-being. Analysis was limited to the 39 participants who completed at least half of the modules and had intact pre- and post-intervention data. Results: Data analysis revealed a statistically significant reduction in stigma related to help-seeking with a small-to-moderate effect size, while no statistically significant increase in emotional well-being was supported by the data. Conclusions: Findings from this pilot study reflect preliminary evidence of feasibility, acceptability, and potential benefit at reducing stigma related to seeking help in Hispanic communities and support Pensamientos y Pláticas as a promising culturally responsive stigma-reduction intervention.