BACKGROUND: Common mental disorder (CMD) is highly prevalent among low-income immigrant women, yet few receive effective treatment. This underutilization is partly owing to a lack of conceptual synchrony between biopsychiatric theories underlying conventional mental treatments and explanatory models in community settings. The Action to Improve Self-esteem and Health through Asset building (ASHA) program is a depression intervention designed by and for South Asian women immigrants. ASHA helps women to build psychological, social, and financial assets. OBJECTIVES: This paper describes the development and a preliminary pilot evaluation of the ASHA intervention. METHODS: Researchers, clinicians, activists, and women from the Bronx Bangladeshi community collaboratively designed a depression intervention that would synchronize with local concepts of distress. In addition to providing mental health treatment, ASHA addresses social isolation and financial dependence. ASHA was evaluated in a pilot study described in this paper. Participants were assigned to intervention or delayed intervention (control) groups. Data collection at baseline and time 2 (6 months) included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and an indigenous measure of psychological and somatic distress. RESULTS: Eighty percent of intervention participants completed the 6-month program. After treatment, mean PHQ-9 scores in the intervention group decreased from 9.90 to 4.26 (p < .001). Participants saved an average of $10 per week. To date, participants have applied their skills and savings toward such activities as starting small businesses and enrolling in community college. CONCLUSIONS:ASHA was effective in improving depression and increasing financial independence. Using a culturally synchronous approach to psychological treatment may be effective in ameliorating distress in immigrant populations.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Common mental disorder (CMD) is highly prevalent among low-income immigrant women, yet few receive effective treatment. This underutilization is partly owing to a lack of conceptual synchrony between biopsychiatric theories underlying conventional mental treatments and explanatory models in community settings. The Action to Improve Self-esteem and Health through Asset building (ASHA) program is a depression intervention designed by and for South Asian women immigrants. ASHA helps women to build psychological, social, and financial assets. OBJECTIVES: This paper describes the development and a preliminary pilot evaluation of the ASHA intervention. METHODS: Researchers, clinicians, activists, and women from the Bronx Bangladeshi community collaboratively designed a depression intervention that would synchronize with local concepts of distress. In addition to providing mental health treatment, ASHA addresses social isolation and financial dependence. ASHA was evaluated in a pilot study described in this paper. Participants were assigned to intervention or delayed intervention (control) groups. Data collection at baseline and time 2 (6 months) included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and an indigenous measure of psychological and somatic distress. RESULTS: Eighty percent of intervention participants completed the 6-month program. After treatment, mean PHQ-9 scores in the intervention group decreased from 9.90 to 4.26 (p &lt; .001). Participants saved an average of $10 per week. To date, participants have applied their skills and savings toward such activities as starting small businesses and enrolling in community college. CONCLUSIONS: ASHA was effective in improving depression and increasing financial independence. Using a culturally synchronous approach to psychological treatment may be effective in ameliorating distress in immigrant populations.
Authors: Kieran Rustage; Alison Crawshaw; Saliha Majeed-Hajaj; Anna Deal; Laura Nellums; Yusuf Ciftci; Sebastian S Fuller; Lucy Goldsmith; Jon S Friedland; Sally Hargreaves Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2021-10-25 Impact factor: 2.692
Authors: Alison Karasz; Shabnam Anne; Jena Derakhshani Hamadani; Fahmida Tofail Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-01-01 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Catherine K Ettman; Gaelen P Adam; Melissa A Clark; Ira B Wilson; Patrick M Vivier; Sandro Galea Journal: Brain Behav Date: 2022-02-08 Impact factor: 2.708