Note: Katrina Kubicek, MA, assistant director of SC CTSI Community Engagement, teamed up with Charlie Kaplan, associate dean of research at the USC School of Social Work, to convene a series of seminars focused on team building and bring together the research interests of community partners and academic researchers.  As a result of the seminar focused on promotores, Maria Aranda, associate professor at the USC School of Social Work, invited the staff from Visión y Compromiso, a statewide agency focusing on providing promotores services, to be a part of a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) grant she was developing with Kathy Ell, the Ernest P. Larson Professor of Health, Ethnicity, and Poverty at the USC School of Social Work.  

Major depression coupled with other chronic health problems, such as heart disease or diabetes, can place a severe burden on low-income, culturally diverse individuals who are less comfortable interacting with doctors and navigating complex health care systems.

A new community-based research project led by Kathleen Ell, the Ernest P. Larson Professor of Health, Ethnicity, and Poverty at the USC School of Social Work, will test whether community members trained to provide basic health information and promote healthy behaviors represent an effective strategy to help those individuals access treatment and improve health outcomes.

“Multiple chronic illnesses, particularly among these underserved populations, are a real challenge,” Ell said. “Managing one illness is tough enough. Managing multiple illnesses is complicated in many ways.”

The three-year study, supported by a $1.3 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), will involve recruiting 350 patients with major depression and a chronic illness from two health clinics overseen by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

Some participants will be randomly selected to receive typical clinical services, whereas others will participate in A Helping Hand, a program in which community-based promotoras offer training and advice to help patients interact with health care providers, adhere to treatment, manage stress and fatigue, attend clinic appointments, and advocate for personal treatment preferences, among other strategies to improve their health.

María Aranda, an associate professor with the USC School of Social Work and project co-investigator, said promotoras are particularly well suited to deliver health care information about depression and chronic illness while respecting cultural and community traditions.

“These community health care workers have amazing characteristics and an amazing aptitude for bringing needed services to underserviced populations,” she said. “They can break down some of the typical barriers in terms of health care access and coordination of health care systems.”

With this grant, 350 patients with major depression and a chronic illness from two health clinics overseen by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS) will be recruited to participate in a randomized control trial to test whether promotores can effectively be utilized to provide health information and promote healthy behaviors to help low-income, culturally diverse individuals at LACDHS clinics have better access to treatment and improve their health outcomes.

Read the full news release on the USC Social Work website