Table 1.

Selected interventions targeting social determinants of mental health

Intervention	Objective	Characteristics of the intervention	Participants	Outcome Variables	Main Results
Family, Household and Working Life Interventions
Housing First [61]	Combine Housing First with assertive community treatment to assist people with serious mental illness to exit homelessness	Housing First= homeless assistance program, prioritizes providing permanent housing before getting a job or addressing mental health/ substance use symptoms	Randomized control trial with 50 homeless participants with serious mental illness	Housing stability Community functioning	Housing First participants spent more time in stable housing, entered housing more quickly, rated the quality of their housing more positively, reported higher quality of life
Housing First [64]	Compare mental health service use among individuals who received Housing First vs. standard care	See above	Multi-site randomized controlled trial with 2039 severely mental ill and homeless participants	Reported service use over 24 months	Housing first program decreased use of inpatient psychiatric hospitals and increased use of food banks
Housing Stability and Food Insecurity [65]	Identify trends in food insecurity by main source of income and housing tenure; determine the impact of one-time increase in social assistance on food insecurity	Social assistance in Canada= income supplements, healthcare costs and childcare expenses paid for, available for low- income individuals who meet eligibility requirements	Data from Canadian Community Health Survey, 2005 to 2012; Canadian population aged 12 and over	Household food insecurity over the prior 12 months	Overall and moderate food insecurity declined among households on social assistance, but severe food insecurity remained unchanged
SNAP Program for Food Insecurity [22]	Examine the associations between household food security and depression and whether these differed by SNAP participation	SNAP= Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides nutrition assistance to millions of low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities	3518 adults with household incomes ≤130% of the federal poverty level	Food insecurity was assessed with the US Household Food Security Survey Module; depression assessed with the 9- item Patient Health Questionnaire	The overall prevalence of depression was 9.3%, ranging from 6.7% among SNAP nonparticipants to 12.8% among SNAP participants; higher prevalence was observed with worsening food insecurity
SNAP Program for Food Insecurity [66]	Investigate the impact of change in SNAP participation status on maternal depression and on perception of government assistance	See above	Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, N= 256 SNAP- eligible mothers who changed SNAP participation & depression status	Perceptions of government assistance defined as feelings of humiliation or loss of freedom and tested for interactions with SNAP participation	Those with positive perceptions of welfare had 0.27 times lower odds of depression when enrolled; for those with negative perceptions of welfare, SNAP enrollment was not associated with depression
Community Level Programs
Communities That Care [76]	Determine whether the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system is a cost-beneficial intervention	Communities That Care= community mobilization strategy intended to produce community-wide reductions in youth substance use, delinquency, and violence	Longitudinal panel of 4,407 youth participating in a randomized controlled trial including 24 towns in 7 states	Alcohol and tobacco use, delinquency rates, long-term cost savings estimation	CTC produced $4,477 in benefits per youth and cost $556 per youth to implement CTC for 5 years—the net present benefit was $3,920, the benefit- cost ratio was $8.22 per dollar invested
Bridge to Better Health and Wellness [78]	Examine the feasibility, acceptability, and initial impact of the intervention (B2BHW)	B2BHW= a culturally- adapted health care manager intervention delivered by community health workers for Hispanics with serious mental illness	34 Hispanics with SMI and at risk for cardiovascular disease	Examine changes over 12-months on patient activation, self-efficacy, quality of care, receipt of preventive primary care services, and quality of life	Significant improvements were found for patient activation, self-efficacy, patients’ ratings of quality of care, and receipt of preventive primary care
Policy Level Programs
Urban Planning [70]	Explore the association between green space and depression in a deprived, multiethnic sample of pregnant women	Green spaces such as parks and gardens around homes, schools, and workplaces have mental and physical health benefits: provide a peaceful place to play, relax, study, or exercise, as well as a social gathering place	7547 women recruited to the ‘Born in Bradford’ cohort	Depressive symptoms; 2 green space measures—quintiles of greenness and access to major green spaces	Pregnant women in the greener quintiles were 18–23% less likely to report depressive symptoms than those in the least green quintile; significant for women who had lower education or were active
Urban Planning [71]	Examined the influence of parks on comprehensive measures of subjective wellbeing at the city level	See above	2014 data from 44 U.S. cities, from a variety of secondary data sources (e.g., Gallup, Trust for Public Land, U.S. Census Bureau).	Urban park quantity, quality and self- reported scores on the Gallup-Healthways 1Wellbeing Index (WBI),	Park quantity was among the strongest predictors of overall wellbeing; the strength of park quality and accessibility were positively associated with wellbeing
Universal Primary Health Care Access [81]	Analyze cross- national results of self-reported health and the prevalence of material hardship for adults, which can lead to poor mental health	U.S. has lack of accessible, comprehensive care for all people; material hardship= an inadequate consumption of goods or services minimally necessary for decent human functioning	Data from a 2016 telephone survey conducted in 11 countries for noninstitutionalized adults ages 18 and older	Existence of chronic conditions, coping ability, daily life functioning, financial hardship and emotional well-being	US adults who reported poor emotional wellbeing were most likely to experience material hardship; in all countries, shortfalls in patient engagement and chronic care management were reported
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) [67]	Study the impact of the EITC on various measures of subjective well-being	EITC= Earned Income Tax Credit, a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples; the benefit depends on a recipient’s income and number of children	Use the National Survey of Families and Households, first wave N=13,007 adults, second wave N= 10,005 adults	Depression measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, Evaluative well- being is measured using happiness and self- esteem questions	The EITC expansion generated well-being improvements; decreased depression, increased happiness and self-esteem for married women compared to unmarried women