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Creating Welcoming Faith Communities for People With Serious Mental Illnesses
Sponsor: Temple University
Summary
The goal of this intervention study is to test a behavioral intervention to increase inclusionary practices toward individuals with serious mental illness in faith communities. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. To determine if the behavior-based intervention leads to an increase in inclusionary practices (e.g., conducting outreach with mental health agencies). 2. To determine if the behavior-based intervention is effective in increasing inclusive practices by members and leaders of faith communities. 3. To determine if the intervention leads to a greater understand of mental illness and a decrease in stigmatizing beliefs by congregation members. 4. To determine if the intervention results in individuals with serious mental illness and their family members reporting less discrimination and increased inclusion. Congregations will be asked to create an inclusion committee that will then work on developing systems and changing congregational practices to become more inclusive. All congregation members will be invited to a half-day training that will provide information on mental illness and inclusion, and will provide tips and strategies when they encounter situations or behaviors that are less familiar to them. All congregation members will be given the opportunity to participate in a survey about congregational practices.
Official title: Creating Welcoming Faith Communities for Believers With Serious Mental Illnesses: Testing an Environmental, Behavior-Oriented Intervention
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
700
Start Date
2024-01-22
Completion Date
2025-12
Last Updated
2024-05-06
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Increasing Inclusionary Practices in Faith Communities
Congregational inclusion committees will participate in monthly training meetings for approximately 1 year. Each month a new inclusion practice will be introduced and then the committee will be asked to implement it in their congregation. The 11 practice areas are:1) assessing inclusion needs of members, 2) providing opportunities for members with serious mental illness (SMI) to take on roles and responsibilities, 3) creating an inclusion committee, 4) ensuring that members with SMI are welcomed to all events, 5) creating sensory friendly spaces, 6) offer participation opportunities in multiple formats, 7) adopt policies and practices to support inclusion, 8) using inclusive language, 9) ensure that external communications indicate the congregation is welcoming to all, 10) providing support to family members of individuals with SMI, and 11) conducing outreach to mental health support systems. Goals may vary per congregation based on their current practices, needs, and preferences.
Locations (1)
Temple Univeristy
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States