Table 2.
Adults: Summary of Included Studies
| Intervention | Description | Study design and study N | Mental health and mental health-related outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Housing First program | Programs that provide housing and health, mental health, and other supportive services for people with disabilities experiencing houselessness, without requiring them to abstain from substance use or be receiving psychiatric treatment | Systematic review (46) of the literature comparing Housing First to care as usual or Treatment First (which requires clients be “housing ready”, i.e., in psychiatric treatment and substance-free prior to permanent housing); 26 studies assessing Housing First programs implemented in high-income nations serving among persons with disabilities experiencing homelessness | Clients with HIV experienced reductions in depression by 13%, emergency department use by 41%, hospitalization by 36%, and mortality by 37%, compared to Treatment First |
| 2. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for Employment | An evidence-based model of supported employment for people with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and other disabilities (50). IPS principles include a rapid job search with an IPS specialist, competitive paid employment, and integration with mental health treatment. | A meta-analysis of 30 studies (51), including 25 original randomized controlled trials, two follow-ups of RCTs, and three secondary analyses of previous RCTs | Compared to treatment as usual, the meta-analysis found a small and heterogenous effect of IPS on improvement in clinical mental health symptoms. IPS is associated with improvements in quality of life and global functioning, sustained mental health status, and lower likelihood of experiencing mental health hospitalizations. |
| 3. Earned Income Tax Credits | Tax credits for individuals of low to moderate income who are eligible | In a randomized controlled trial (58) American adults without dependent children were randomly assigned to either the Paycheck Plus program (N = 2,997) or control group (N = 2,971) | Paycheck Plus participants had reductions in psychological distress compared to the control group. Women and noncustodial parents experienced the greatest reductions in distress. |
| Secondary data analyses from the longitudinal study of National Survey of Families and Households; the sample comprised of 13,007 adults at baseline (55) | Decreased depressive symptomatology among those receiving EITC relative to the comparison group | ||
| 4. Community-led interventions for mental health offered by paraprofessionals in under-resourced communities | Mental health programs offered by community health workers | Systematic review of 38 studies (62); 27 were RCTs offered in mostly low- and middle-income countries that included evidence-based or evidence-informed mental health interventions; 31 studies evaluated a model where a CHW is the sole provider of the intervention | In 69% of the 27 RCTs of CHW-involved mental health interventions, mental health outcomes were significantly better than in comparison condition |
| Community coalitions, including the Community Partners in Care model for depression collaborative care (63) | 95 health care and community programs randomized to a coalition intervention (Community Engagement and Planning) or individual program technical assistance; adults with depression, 3-year sample 2010–2014 (n = 1,018) and 4-year sample 2016 (n = 283)(63) | People attending the sites randomized to Community Engagement and Planning on average experienced increased depression remission at 4 years compared to people attending the sites with the comparison condition of receiving technical assistance | |
| 5. Mental health literacy campaigns | “La CLAve” film workshop facilitated by community health educators | Focus groups and pre -post-workshop evaluations (65) among Latinx adults with serious mental illness (n = 57) and family caregivers of people with schizophrenia (n = 38) | Increased psychosis literacy |
| Pre-post workshop questionnaires (68) among community residents aged 15–84 (n = 81) | Increased psychosis literacy | ||
| Randomized controlled trial (67) where (N = 125) adults from Mexico were randomly assigned to view either La Clave or a psychoeducational program regarding caregiving | Psychosis literacy gains were only observed in the La CLAve intervention condition and not in the control group | ||
| “Secret Feelings” Spanish language fotonovela | Randomized controlled trial with 142 immigrant Latina adults at risk for depression (70) | Increased knowledge of depression and help-seeking self-efficacy and reduced stigma as compared to the control group | |
| Randomized controlled trial with 157 Hispanic adults at a community adult school, randomly assigned to read the fotonovela or a text pamphlet about depression, who completed a survey immediately before reading, immediately after, and 1 month later (69) | Both interventions improved depression knowledge and self-efficacy of identifying depression, but the fotonovela group had larger reductions in stigma around antidepressants and mental health care |