A Community-Driven Mental Health Solution: Lay Mental Health Ambassadors

Urban, ethnically/racially diverse, impoverished people are predisposed to experience unaddressed depression and anxiety. The use of lay mental health ambassadors (MHAs) may effectively expand access to mental health care in underserved neighborhoods.

This study described the role of lay MHAs as they provided mental health prevention in their communities.

Using community-based participatory research in the context of long-term partnerships between a department of nursing and three urban, racially/ethnically diverse, and impoverished neighborhoods, the researchers trained 22 Black, White, and Hispanic neighborhood residents to serve as lay MHAs. Descriptive data were collected on the MHAs, their "touches" (mental health conversations) with community residents, responses to these "touches," and role satisfaction of the MHAs.

The MHAs conducted 3,782 "touches" with 1,614 persons during the 28 months of data collection. The recipients of the "touches" were primarily female, middle-aged, and Black. The MHAs employed the strategies of listening and teaching self-care/coping strategies most often. Neighborhood residents' major "take aways" from the "touches" were education and resources. The MHAs were highly satisfied with their role. MHA mental health literacy increased, and mental health stigma decreased from before to 4 to 9 months after training.

The community-driven solution of training lay MHAs to do preventive, upstream mental health work in their neighborhoods holds potential to address existing mental health inequities. This study contributes to an emerging evidence base that can empower communities and nurses to collaborate in the development of useful research agendas, meaningful policy, and tailored mental health care.