Improving Treatment Engagement of Underserved U.S. Racial-Ethnic Groups: A Review of Recent Interventions

OBJECTIVE: Unequal mental health among U.S. underserved racial-ethnic populations has become a prominent national concern. Contributing to this inequity is our limited ability to engage individuals from underserved populations into treatment. To help address this, a systematic literature review was conducted to examine the evidence base for interventions that can improve mental health treatment engagement among underserved racial-ethnic minority populations. METHODS: A MEDLINE search and bibliographic review yielded 1,611 studies that were reviewed according to several inclusion criteria: publication during or after 2001, U.S. adult sample, a randomized design, sufficient (≥50%) representation of underserved racial-ethnic groups, adequate sample size (≥27 participants per condition), explicit focus on mental health treatment engagement, and evaluation of an engagement outcome (for example, adherence or retention). RESULTS: Ten studies met inclusion criteria. Evidence supported the efficacy of collaborative care for depression as an engagement enhancement intervention among underserved racial-ethnic populations. Several other interventions demonstrated possible efficacy. The effect of the interventions on clinical outcomes, such as symptom improvement and rehospitalization, was mixed. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative care for depression can be recommended for improving engagement in depression care in primary care among underserved racial-ethnic populations. Future research should continue to examine approaches with initial evidence of efficacy in order to expand the number of engagement enhancement interventions for underserved racial-ethnic adult populations. Additional issues for future engagement research include relative intervention efficacy across racial-ethnic groups, inclusion of other understudied groups (for example, Asian Americans and Native Americans), and greater clarification of the impact of improved engagement on clinical outcomes.