Mental Health and Cancer (MHC) Connection Project: Preliminary findings from a community-based participatory research (CBPR) pilot

In 2009, while conducting outreach in the Bronx, NY for a cancer screening study, we found that community agencies' most pressing concern was connecting clients to mental health services. Subsequent research revealed that half of the Bronx is designated by HRSA as a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area. Also, literature suggested that unmet mental health needs are associated with less participation in cancer screening and other preventive health behaviors; conversely, the management of mental illness through regular care appears to increase such participation. Consequently, we developed MHC Connection – a 2-year CBPR pilot project supported by university funds – to identify feasible strategies to increase access to mental health care and thus improve age-appropriate utilization of cancer screening services. The MHC Connection partnership, formed in early 2010, includes six community-based organizations and university faculty and staff. Using a collaboratively developed qualitative interview guide, staff interviewed 38 Bronx service providers using snowball sampling techniques; interviews were transcribed and coded using NVIVO software. Initial analysis revealed key barriers to mental health care and underscored how untreated mental health issues have multiplicative repercussions on the lives of Bronx residents, including their ability to seek preventive care. Analysis has also pointed to the role of daily life stressors and environmental-level factors in this resource-poor urban context. In this presentation, we will present study findings and describe how the findings are used by the partnership to develop a potentially fundable intervention model to reduce disparities in mental health care and cancer screening in the Bronx.