HEAAL Project: A community-based mental health collaboration with an African faith community in Lowell, Massachusetts
HEAAL Project: A community-based mental health collaboration with an African faith community in Lowell, Massachusetts
Anticipated Start Date: Spring/Summer/Fall 2017
Time commitment: 10-20 hours/week, but flexible
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Christina Borba
The BMC Department of Psychiatry recently received a second round of funding to continue a community-based mental health initiative entitled, “Health and Mental Health Education and Awareness for Africans in Lowell” or the HEAAL project. The first phase of this project included a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) needs assessment research initiative conducted in collaboration with Christ Jubilee International Ministries, a nondenominational Christian church in Lowell, Massachusetts that serves a largely African immigrant and refugee congregation. The goal of this needs assessment was to better understand the landscape of mental health needs and barriers to care in this community, in order to inform the development of community-specific mental health resources and interventions. The needs assessment has been completed and the data have been analyzed. The current project is to use these data to develop, implement and evaluate community-informed intervention(s) for this community in Lowell. The Practicum student would be involved in the development and implementation of this community-based intervention. The mental health intervention itself is yet to be defined, as researchers in our department are actively collaborating with our partners at the church to identify the most feasible, practical and desirable intervention for this community, based on the findings of the preceding needs assessment. We anticipate that this intervention will be developed over the course of the spring/summer and implemented in the late summer/fall 2017. Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter via email to Claire Oppenheim, Research Program Manager for Dept. of Psychiatry at Claire.Oppenheim@bmc.org. Please indicate the specific practicum opportunity for which you are applying in your application email.
