The proposed center will be named Center for Research and Outreach in Hispanic Mental Health and Other Health Disparities (CROHMOD). The proposed center will provide significant support to the current research infrastructure in the Carlos Albizu University (CAU) by facilitating the performance of high quality research in health disparities with special focus on the development of effective and novel approaches to diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the mental health disorders affecting Hispanics. The long-term goal of the center is to contribute to reduce Hispanic and other minorities' health disparities with an emphasis on, but not limited to, reducing the disparity in the burden of mental health disorders. The vision of the CROHMOD is to become an important contributor to the understanding of the causes of health disparities experienced by Hispanics and to the development of evidenced-based interventions that will help narrow the gap in health status between the Hispanic and the non-Hispanic white majority US population. Four cores are proposed. The first is an administrative core directed at developing the research capacity and infrastructure of CAU in order to support and coordinate clinical and behavioral research aimed at reducing disparities in health status with an emphasis on, but not limited to, reducing the disparity in the burden of mental disorders of Hispanics. The second core, Pilot/Feasibility Studies Core, will be directed at conducting pilot and feasibility studies that can sustain the design of research directed at improving approaches for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders and other co-morbid health conditions of Hispanics. The third core, Mentorship Core, will promote research on health disparities by developing a mentoring program that leads to an increase in the number of investigators on Hispanic and other minorities' health disparities. Finally, the fourth core, Community Outreach and Information Dissemination Core, will develop and implement a community outreach program that addresses a full range of health promotion approaches directed at the prevention and reduction of Hispanic and other minorities health disparities with an emphasis on, but not limited to, the disparity in the burden of mental disorders. ? ?
