# CRISOL Mente: A Multilevel Community Intervention to Reduce Mental Health Disparities Among Latinos

> **NIH NIH R01** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $1,119,618

## Abstract

Latinos in the U.S. experience significant disparities in access to mental health services due to lack of 
health insurance, cost of services, limited awareness of mental health resources, mental health stigma, and 
fear of deportation. Limited English proficiency coupled with an acute lack of bilingual and culturally competent 
providers further impede Latinos’ adequate access to quality mental health services. The COVID-19 pandemic 
has only amplified the need for mental health care and exacerbated mental health disparities for Latino 
communities, making it urgent to identify low-cost, effective strategies to reduce these gaps. This 5-year 
project seeks to develop and test a multi-level, community intervention to improve mental health 
outcomes and promote access to culturally appropriate mental health treatment for Latino 
communities in Philadelphia. CRISOL Mente will include components at various levels of the socio-ecological 
model: a clinic-based, stepped-care program relying on Latino lay health workers (LHW) for the delivery of 
mental health services (Aim 1), outreach and education activities to reduce mental health stigma in the 
community (Aim 2), and efforts to strengthen Latino-serving organizations’ capacity to address mental health 
and other syndemic conditions contributing to untreated mental health among Latinos (Aim 3). To improve 
mental health symptoms and engagement in care, we will recruit, train and supervise a cohort of Latino LHW 
who will be embedded into two Latino-serving clinics, extending the reach and effectiveness of the clinics’
mental health services. We will compare the impact of three different levels of LHW involvement: a) 
community outreach/navigation (i.e. screening and referral of community members); b) auxiliary care (i.e. 
screening, referral, and help overcoming barriers to better mental health); and c) task shifting (i.e. screening, 
referral, assistance, and supervised delivery of basic mental health treatment). The LHWs will also conduct
outreach/education activities in the community (e.g. radio talks, info sessions, tables in community venues)
to reduce mental health stigma. Our experienced and largely Latino community-academic research team will
also engage in capacity building activities (i.e. monthly town halls, annual retreats, weekly newsletters, 
provision of trainings and technical support) with the Latino Health Collective, a coalition of Latino-serving 
organizations. Using mixed-methods and the RE-AIM framework, CRISOL Mente’s impact will be evaluated 
with clinical data, baseline and 6-month patient survey data (N=200 from each level of LHW involvement), and 
qualitative interviews with community members (N=30) referred to mental health services by the LHW (Aim 1); 
pre/post mental health stigma data from two respondent driven sampling (RDS) surveys of Latinos (N=400 
each) conducted in 2022 (preliminary study) and in 2027 (Aim 2); community capacity indicators from three 
surveys of...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10597875
- **Project number:** 1R01MD018206-01
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Mariana Lazo Elizondo
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,119,618
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-19 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10597875

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10597875, CRISOL Mente: A Multilevel Community Intervention to Reduce Mental Health Disparities Among Latinos (1R01MD018206-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10597875. Licensed CC0.

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