Background: There is a need to expand access to evidence-based interventions that are appropriate, acceptable, and feasible to deliver in community settings where individuals most in need are most likely to receive care. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics , designed to address gaps in treatment provision by providing integrated behavioral care in low resource communities, are a promising setting to expand care, yet lack sufficient specialized treatment providers to meet the overwhelming needs of distressed communities. 

Study design: We are evaluating a peer-delivered behavioral activation intervention to address both depression and substance use in a historically underserved setting in Detroit, MI. We are conducting a hybrid Type 1 effectiveness-implementation trial (N=200) to assess the effectiveness and implementation of the approach and how access to an environmental reward (i.e., mechanism) may affect treatment outcomes. 

Aims: This study aims to test how a peer-delivered behavioral activation approach can simultaneously address both substance use and depression outcomes to expand access to evidence-based interventions in Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. Leveraging a well-established partnership with a community-based, peer recovery specialist -led Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, the Detroit Recovery Project, we are evaluating program effects on depressive symptoms and substance use; potential mechanisms of this approach (environmental reward) using geospatial mapping; and implementation outcomes, including cost effectiveness.

Location: Detroit, Michigan 

Funding: NIMH (R01MH1372374; 2024-2029) 

Principal Investigators: Julia Felton, Jessica Magidson 

Partners/collaborators: Henry Ford Health System, Michigan State University 

Opportunities: Staff and graduate students can be involved in study coordination, primary data collection, secondary data analysis, and future grant submissions.