Tapestry of Care: Strengthening Mental Health Provider and Faith Community Partnerships to Bridge Scientific Research and Practice

Every year in the U.S., 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness. Similarly, 1 in 6 youth face a mental health (MH) disorder. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for ages 10-14. Despite the urgency, only 40% of youth and less than 45% of adults 18 yrs. or older receive MH treatment or services. For people seeking MH services, 65% first seek help from their clergy and congregations before MH providers. National Congregations Study 2018-19 reports over 50% of all churches in the US provide services targeting MH disorders. However, scholars recognize little is known about program efficacy within faith-based settings and whether they produce reliable or measurable improvements in mental health outcomes. Despite the ability to prove value, churches assume a perceived role as vital and trusted providers of MH services in community. Increased acuity and the established role of the church as a MH provider seeds an opening for religion and science to explore an interdisciplinary approach to delivering MH services in the context of faith-based settings and its connectivity to the broader delivery continuum. We seek to know how can Religion and Spirituality (R/S) enhance and inform the training and delivery of science-based interventions in faith-based settings; and what are the contextual needs of faith communities to make referrals and build trusted partnerships with MH providers to effectuate and sustain impact? To answer these questions, we will develop a two-way model of engagement between faith communities and MH providers. Train faith communities to deliver therapeutic treatments for mild depression and anxiety within their churches, use feedback to modify models to include R/S, and further test models comparing implementation, adaptability, and relevance. Lastly, deploy and evaluate a technology platform to build bidirectional referral/communication pathways between faith communities and MH services, measuring strength, direction, and quality of linkages.