Culture and Well-Being for Latinos

Culture and Well-Being for Latinos: Study Protocol for Cultural-Social Engagement and Suicide Among Hispanics (K23MH125078)

The proposed K23 study is an intervention study using an experimental therapeutics approach. This pilot RCT asks: "Does SOCIAL-ENGAGE increase cultural-social engagement and decrease suicide risk among Spanish-speaking adults?" We will first optimize a behavioral intervention - SOCIAL ENGAGE (S-ENGAGE) - for target engagement using human-centered design approaches with Spanish-speaking adults at risk for suicide (n=5) and then conduct a pilot RCT (n=60) to test target engagement (cultural-social engagement) and clinical impact (suicide risk) of S-ENGAGE with this population. The ultimate goal is for S-ENGAGE to be offered as a suicide prevention program for Hispanics at risk for suicide.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Identify as Hispanic/Latino adult (age 18+);
• Primary Spanish-Speaker;
• Patient in the UR health system;
• Low cultural-social engagement (i.e., score ≤ 2 on the adapted Berkman-Syme Social Network Index);
• Elevated suicide risk (i.e., presence of passive or active suicide ideation in the past month on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale [C-SSRS]).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medical or psychiatric comorbidities that impair ability to consent (e.g., active psychotic or manic episode, cognitive impairment).