200 - Clinician Perspectives on Strategies to Improve Depression Treatment Engagement among Latinx Adolescents
Monday, April 25, 2022
3:30 PM – 6:00 PM US MT
Poster Number: 200 Publication Number: 200.400
Allison M. Stafford, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC, United States; Norma G. Garcia Ortiz, Duke School of Nursing, Benson, NC, United States; Hollyce Tyrrell, Academic Pediatric Association, McLean, VA, United States; Iman Sharif-Session, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC, United States
Assistant Professor Duke University School of Nursing Durham, North Carolina, United States
Background: Latinx youth are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and less likely to receive psychotherapy or antidepressants for depression than their non-Latinx White peers; these are inequities which have been further exacerbated in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine barriers to depression treatment engagement among Latinx youth and strategies for addressing these barriers from the perspectives of primary care and mental health clinicians.
Design/Methods: A national recruitment strategy was used to recruit clinicians for this qualitative descriptive study. Participants (n = 18) were recruited via email listservs of national organizations engaging pediatric primary care and behavioral health clinicians who provide or refer to treatment for depression. Five focus groups were completed over Zoom from June through August 2021. Qualitative content analysis was used to determine common themes of barriers and strategies to address identified barriers, with two individuals involved in coding to enhance credibility of findings.
Results: Focus groups were completed with 11 primary care clinicians, five mental health professionals, and two clinic directors (n = 16 female; n = 11 White; n = 5 Hispanic) from 8 states across the U.S. Common barriers to depression treatment included stigma towards depression diagnosis, lack of systems to support follow up after positive depression screenings, lack of bicultural and bilingual mental health professionals, and laws that require parental consent for depression treatment. Clinician-level strategies to address barriers included using destigmatizing language to talk about depression, educating family members about depression, and using a trauma-informed approach to consider the family unit. Healthcare system-level strategies encompassed providing integrated services in community settings, using community health workers to engage patients in mental health care, and offering holistic, group-based care for parents and teens with depression.Conclusion(s): With additional input from Latinx teens and parents (focus groups ongoing), the results of this study lay a foundation for development and testing of implementation strategies to improve depression treatment engagement among Latinx teens.