# CRISOL: Building Community Resilience and Integrating Efforts to Understand and Address Syndemic Health Conditions Afflicting Young LatinoImmigrants

> **NIH NIH R21** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $227,145

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Latinos make up 47% of immigrants living in the U.S. and represent one of the most socioeconomically
disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Data suggest that some Latino immigrant groups experience a
disproportionate burden of substance abuse, exposure to domestic and community violence, and HIV/STIs.
Studies have also shown high rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress syndrome among Latino
immigrants. These conditions have been found to cluster, interact synergistically, and stem from common
socio-ecological determinants within certain communities, thereby creating a syndemic. Support has begun to
emerge for a syndemic model of Substance Abuse, Violence victimization, HIV/AIDS, and poor MEntal health
(SAVAME) among Latinos and other vulnerable populations. Yet, syndemic research specifically focused on
Latino immigrants has been scarce and little is known about the role of social, cultural, and contextual factors
on Latino immigrants' risk of SAVAME. Evidence regarding effective approaches to tackle the syndemic,
including increasing prevention and treatment service utilization, is also sorely lacking. This community-
academic collaboration is aimed at increasing our understanding of the scope and determinants of the
SAVAME syndemic among Latino immigrants in the City of Philadelphia, which is home to a small but fast-
growing and increasingly diverse Latino immigrant community. This formative study also seeks to expand the
evidence on strategies to address the factors contributing to this syndemic, with emphasis on promoting
collaboration and partnerships between Latino immigrant-serving organizations to increase utilization of
SAVAME prevention and treatment services among the Latino immigrant community. Over a 2-year period, we
will complete in-depth interviews (N=30), key informant interviews (N=30), and a community survey (N=400) to
characterize the extent and impact of the SAVAME syndemic among Latino immigrants in Philadelphia and to
identify socio-ecological determinants that may serve as targets of future multilevel interventions. We will also
implement a community resource survey (N=40) to identify, map, and characterize community services and
other resources that can be engaged, mobilized, and leveraged to address the SAVAME syndemic afflicting
Latino immigrants in the future. We will use social network analyses to investigate the level, nature, and role of
collaborations across organizations and agencies that provide health, social, legal, and other support services
to Latino immigrants –a key element of community resilience. Findings from this study will inform a future R01
or R34 application aimed at developing, implementing, and evaluating a communitywide intervention to
strengthen interagency collaboration, increase access to prevention and treatment services, and reduce the
prevalence and impact of SAVAME on Latino immigrants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9883052
- **Project number:** 5R21MD012352-02
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ana P Martinez-Donate
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $227,145
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9883052

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9883052, CRISOL: Building Community Resilience and Integrating Efforts to Understand and Address Syndemic Health Conditions Afflicting Young LatinoImmigrants (5R21MD012352-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9883052. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*