Our Background
Mental health disorders are highly prevalent with depression and anxiety affecting around 34% of the population. There is an acute shortage of mental health professionals, with fewer having the linguistic capacity to address the mental health needs of non-English speakers. Further, mental health care is quite expensive. Strong Minds seeks to mitigate both barriers by utilizing Community Health Workers to support health service navigation and outreach as well as directly delivering an evidence-based psychosocial intervention. Shifting mental health services to Community Health Workers allows participants to access the program in their native language (currently English, Spanish, and Arabic), in a setting comfortable to them (virtual or in person), at completely no cost thanks to generous funding from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Our Impact
Strong Minds is an evidence-based, clinically effective psychosocial skills-based intervention targeting depression and anxiety symptoms and client activation. The program has proven clinical effectiveness: in a randomized control trial comparing the Strong Minds program to a case management control condition, Strong Minds program participants experienced clinically significant reductions in symptoms of anxiety and depression and increased overall functioning. Further, Strong Minds participants reported extremely high program satisfaction, expressing satisfaction towards the program staff, Community Health Worker, program material, and care management.
Our Continuing work
Strong Minds operates a central Community Health Worker Training hub at UNC Greensboro providing leadership, training, and technical support for the implementation of the Strong Minds program across the state of North Carolina. This hub ensures ongoing program compliance, fidelity, and program tracking to ensure program efficacy and success. In addition, this hub allows access to UNCG’s best clinical, cultural, and community experts to provide continual support. UNCG will release yearly Request for Applications for organizations to seek funding to train Community Health Workers on the Strong Minds program. UNC Greensboro offers direct services to clients throughout North Carolina virtually or in person or will connect clients to a partner organization more local to them in Guilford, Forsyth, Wake, Mecklenburg, or Orange counties.
Since 2019…
Testimonies
Contact Us
If you are interested in learning more or would like to make a referral, please submit the form below,
email us at [email protected], or call us at 336-207-0869.
Become a CHW
The Strong Minds, Strong Communities program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has launched a state-wide dissemination of its mental health program in collaboration with the NC Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Mental Health to address workforce shortages and expand access to mental health care. As part of our grant funding, Strong Minds will train up to eight Community Health Workers yearly at up to two sites across North Carolina. We anticipate releasing a Request for Applications each fall for interested organizations to apply to receive our training. Organizations selected through this RFA will support program dissemination by using funds for 2 full-time or 4 part-time Community Health Workers, 1 part-time licensed clinical supervisor, and 1 part-time site leader to expand access to quality, culturally competent mental health care.
Strong Minds implementation sites will identify 2-4 community health workers to complete the Strong Minds training program and document all screener assessments and program sessions utilizing the Strong Minds data tracking system. Training consists of three phases lasting about 6 months. During phase one, Community Health Workers will complete a webinar-based training and will complete and audio record two 10-session role plays to be listened to for feedback and coaching by a clinical supervisor and/or peer support Community Health Worker. During phase two, Community Health Workers will enroll their first cases, to be reviewed for fidelity and feedback. During phase three, 10% of ongoing sessions will be reviewed for feedback, oversite, and coaching. Community Health Workers will be certified to continue providing the Strong Minds intervention based on attendance at the training and achieving at least 80% adherence to intervention fidelity. Continuing education opportunities will be provided ongoingly.
Interested Community Health Workers and organizations should check back here for our annual RFA release, or they can contact the Project Director, Claire Poindexter, at [email protected] for the current training status and to express interest.