# Supporting Mental Health in Underserved Youth: Engagement with Digital Mental Health Technologies in Pediatric Primary Care

> **NIH NIH K08** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2022 · $145,762

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Mental health disorders are the most common disease of childhood. Yet, millions of teens do not receive
mental health care. Most at risk are teens from underserved populations (e.g., low socioeconomic status;
racial/ethnic and/or gender/sexual minority), who face a myriad of barriers to mental health screening and care.
As such, traditional methods for reaching underserved teens with mental health disorders are not working,
resulting in life-long health disparities and a significant public health impact. Consistent with the
recommendations made in the NIMH National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup report, the goal of
this K08 application is to use and adapt existing digital mental health technologies to advance the engagement,
assessment, detection, treatment, and delivery of services for pediatric mental health. Specifically, the
Accelerated Creation-to-Sustainment Model will guide the development and implementation of the Teen
Assess, Check, and Heal (TeACH) System into a pediatric primary care clinic serving teens and families from
the West Side of Chicago. In Aim 1, the PI and her mentorship team will collaborate with underserved teens
(n=20) and their parents (n=20) to identify strategies to target top barriers to engagement as well as top ethical
concerns and requirements for cultural relevance, usability, and usefulness of the TeACH System. In Aim 2,
the plan for implementing the TeACH System will be refined through observations, interviews, and co-design
workshops with pediatric primary care pediatricians and staff. In Aim 3, the TeACH System will be
implemented into a primary care clinic and evaluated in a randomized trial for: 1) engagement and
implementation outcomes; and 2) assessment of remediation of health disparities by analyzing differential
outcomes (e.g., race, insurance status, individual perceptions of mental health) in a randomized trial. This
innovative research will inform general digital mental health technology engagement adaptations needed for
underserved teens and identify implementation practices to support the TeACH System in pediatric primary
care settings. The PI and her mentorship team will also determine the feasibility and satisfaction of the TeACH
System in preparation for the PI’s planned expansion of the System across multiple primary care clinics in a
future R01 proposal. The proposed research and career development plans logically build from the PI’s
foundational training in pediatrics/behavioral health, user-centered design, and mobile health (mHealth)
evaluation to provide opportunities to gain knowledge and skills in: 1) pediatric health disparities; 2)
dissemination and implementation science; and 3) ethics specific to deploying digital mental health
technologies for underserved populations. Supported by an interdisciplinary team of experts and in institutional
environment invested in supporting innovative initiatives to improve the mental and behavioral health of
unders...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10704457
- **Project number:** 7K08MH125069-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Colleen Stiles-Shields
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $145,762
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2023-01-13 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10704457

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10704457, Supporting Mental Health in Underserved Youth: Engagement with Digital Mental Health Technologies in Pediatric Primary Care (7K08MH125069-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10704457. Licensed CC0.

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