This proposal is for a K23 Mentored Patient Oriented Research Career Development Award that will prepare the candidate, Daniel Jimenez, become an independently funded researcher with expertise in health promotion/health behavior change interventions designed to prevent common mental illness (depression and anxiety) in at-risk racial/ethnic minority elderly. The candidate and his mentors at Dartmouth Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance and the University of Pittsburgh have designed a career development plan, which is comprised of scholarly didactics and seminars, expert mentorship, hands-on experience at Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the University of Pittsburgh as well as measurable productivity including peer- reviewed manuscripts and grant applications. His three career development aims are: 1) to gain expertise in the development of health promotion/health behavior change interventions to prevent common mental health disorders in high-risk older racial/ethnic minority populations;2) to develop methodological expertise in depression and anxiety prevention research as a foundation for conducting health promotion/health behavior change research in racial/ethnic minority elderly;and 3) to gain increased knowledge on the effects of health promotion/health behavior change interventions on risk factors for depression/anxiety. Addressing these career development aims will provide the candidate with the skills and expertise to conduct the research plan in this proposal. A mixed methods approach will be used to develop and refine Happy Older Latinos are Active (HOLA), a physical activity intervention led by a community health worker, and to demonstrate feasibility, acceptability, and safety of the intervention in a randomized trial. This pilot study has three specific aims: 1) to develop and refine HOLA to address depression and anxiety prevention in a group of older Latinos with minor and subthreshold depression and anxiety;2) to evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the newly refined HOLA compared to an enhanced psychoeducation condition with respect to: (a.) depression and anxiety prevention and (b.) depression and anxiety severity;3) to evaluate the feasibility and potential effectiveness of HOLA compared to enhanced psychoeducation with respect to physical and psychosocial functioning. The development of a health promotion intervention designed to prevent common mental disorders could be a means of addressing multiple disparities (e.g. mental health outcomes, mental health service use, stigma) among racial/ethnic minority elderly. Should these results prove to be promising, a future R01 proposal for an adequately powered, randomized control trial will be submitted. Additionally, the results of this study could have implications fo other high risk, highly disadvantaged populations who could benefit from the proposed health promotion intervention in the service of preventing common and disabling mental disorders.

Public Health Relevance

Depressive and anxiety disorders are among the most common, disabling, and costliest disorders in old age. The identification of people at greatest risk for common mental disorders (depression and anxiety) and the development of timely and empirically based interventions to prevent these mental disorders are major public health challenges. This mentored K23 career development application requests support for a pilot randomized prevention trial that seeks to compare a preventive intervention called Happy Older Latinos are Active (HOLA), a CHW led group-based, health promotion intervention, to a fotonovela, an enhanced psychoeducation condition. Participants will be older Latinos with minor and subthreshold depression and anxiety.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
Project #
7K23MH098025-02
Application #
8735019
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (SERV)
Program Officer
Hill, Lauren D
Project Start
2013-09-15
Project End
2017-07-31
Budget Start
2014-08-01
Budget End
2015-07-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
$168,075
Indirect Cost
$11,570
Name
University of Miami School of Medicine
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
052780918
City
Coral Gables
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
33146
Ng, Bernardo; Camacho, Alvaro; Parra, Katherine et al. (2018) Differences in BMI between Mexican and Colombian patients receiving antipsychotics: results from the International Study of Latinos on Antipsychotics (ISLA). Ethn Health :1-8
Jimenez, Daniel E; Syed, Shariful; Perdomo-Johnson, Doris et al. (2018) ¡HOLA, Amigos! Toward Preventing Anxiety and Depression in Older Latinos. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 26:250-256
Kim, Giyeon; Kim, Minjung; Park, Soohyun et al. (2018) Limited English Proficiency and Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican American Older Adults. Gerontologist :
Cardenas, Veronica; Mausbach, Brent T; Sommerfeld, David et al. (2017) Depression is Associated with Increased Risk for Metabolic Syndrome in Latinos with Type 2 Diabetes. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 25:646-653
Jimenez, Daniel E (2017) Identifying Targets on Which to Intervene in Order to Reduce and Ultimately Eliminate Disparities in Mental Health Services. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 25:1223-1224
Jimenez, Daniel E; Schmidt, Andrew C; Kim, Giyeon et al. (2017) Impact of comorbid mental health needs on racial/ethnic disparities in general medical care utilization among older adults. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 32:909-921
Kim, Giyeon; Dautovich, Natalie; Ford, Katy-Lauren et al. (2017) Geographic variation in mental health care disparities among racially/ethnically diverse adults with psychiatric disorders. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 52:939-948
Jimenez, Daniel E; Schulz, Richard; Perdomo, Dolores et al. (2017) Implementation of a Psychosocial Intervention Program for Working Caregivers. J Appl Gerontol :733464817748777
Jimenez, Daniel E; Thomas, Lauren; Bartels, Stephen J (2017) The role of serious mental illness in motivation, participation and adoption of health behavior change among obese/sedentary Latino adults. Ethn Health :1-8
Jimenez, Daniel E; Burrows, Kimberly; Aschbrenner, Kelly et al. (2016) Health behavior change benefits: Perspectives of Latinos with serious mental illness. Transcult Psychiatry 53:313-29

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