Improvement in Depressive Symptoms Among Hispanic/Latinos Receiving a Culturally Tailored IMPACT and Problem-Solving Intervention in a Community Health Center

• DOI: 10.1007/s10597-014-9750-7
• Publication Date: 2014-08-08T05:17:15Z
• Authors: Álvaro Camacho; Patricia González; Sheila F. Castañeda; Alan Simmons; Christina Buelna; Hector Lemus; Gregory A. Talavera
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Male; Adolescent; Depression; Hispanic or Latino; Middle Aged; Culturally Competent Care; California; Community Mental Health Services; 3. Good health; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Treatment Outcome; 0302 clinical medicine; Linear Models; Humans; Female; Aged; Follow-Up Studies

The present study investigated whether a culturally-tailored problem-solving intervention delivered by a trained depression care specialist (DCS) would improve depressive symptoms over a 6 month period among Hispanic/Latino patients in a federally-qualified community health center by the California-Mexico border. Participants included 189 low income Hispanic/Latino patients of Mexican heritage. Based on the improving mood-promoting access to collaborative treatment (IMPACT) evidence-based treatment, patients received evidence-based problem-solving therapy. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was administered to assess changes in self-reported depressive symptoms between baseline and monthly for a 6-month follow up period. The majority of participants were female (72.5%) with a mean age of 52.5 (SD = 11.7). The mean PHQ-9 at baseline was 16.9 (SD = 4.0) and at the 6-month follow-up, the average PHQ-9 decreased to 9.9 (SD = 5.7). A linear mixed model analysis showed significant improvement in PHQ-9 scores over a 6 month period (F = 124.1; p < 0.001) after controlling for age, gender, smoking and diabetes. There was a significant three way interaction between time, gender and smoking (p = 0.01) showing that the depressive symptoms among male smokers did not improve as much as non-smoking males and females. Results suggest that a culturally-tailored problem solving approach can significantly reduce depressive symptoms among Hispanic/Latino low-income patients.