Amigas Latinas motivando el alma (ALMA): Evaluation of a promotora intervention addressing mental health stress and coping among immigrant Latinas

Introduction: Latina immigrants are often at high risk for poor mental health but do not receive needed services. Amigas Latinas Motivando el Alma (ALMA), trained promotoras to prevent depression and anxiety among Latinas and examined the impact of the intervention on participants' emotional well-being. Several promotoras provided feedback in the development and are co-authors of this presentation. Methods: Forty-eight Latina promotoras, recruited from three North Carolina counties, participated in a 6-10-week theory-based interactive training. During this training, we received insight in the promotoras' personal and healthcare experiences and, in turn, provided promotoras with coping strategies and other skills to address their interpersonal and healthcare challenges. Promotoras selected up to three compañeras (friends) with whom to share the concepts they learned. Promotoras served as mental health care ‘bridging' agents to educate their compañeras and help them access community services. Compañeras completed pre- and post-intervention surveys to assess the impact of the intervention. Results: Results indicated that ALMA positively influenced compañeras emotional health. Six months post-intervention, compañeras' (n=42) reported significant improvement in social support levels (p<0.01), use of positive coping mechanisms (p<0.01), and attitudes towards depression treatment (p<0.001). They also reported decreased levels of perceived and acculturative stress (p<0.05) and depressive symptoms (p<0.01). Conclusion: The pilot results support the promotora model as a promising pre-clinical intervention to engage Latinas in using positive coping strategies and community resources that support mental health. Using peer-to-peer support offers a culturally competent way to reduce mental health stress among a vulnerable population of new Latina immigrants.