Strengthening Community Mental Health

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the impact of the Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy (COPE) intervention in adults in communities having recently experienced or at risk of experiencing disaster. The main questions it aims to answer are: * How does the COPE intervention affect individual mental health? * How does the COPE intervention affect protective factors like coping and social support? * How does the COPE intervention affect community resilience? * How does delivery of the COPE intervention in partnership with a broad-based organization affect participant recruitment and retention, as well as outcomes? Participants will participate in the three session COPE intervention. Researchers will compare individuals who participate in the COPE intervention to individuals who participate in house meetings to see if the COPE intervention improves mental health, coping, social support and community resilience. Researchers will also examine factors that affect implementation and intervention delivery.

This Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) study will follow a multiphase mixed-methods design to adapt, deliver, and assess the efficacy of the Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy (COPE) intervention model. We will partner with a broad-based community organization, Together Baton Rouge, to adapt the intervention model to fit the context of East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) and deliver it to members of religious and non-profit institutions. The objectives of the multi-level COPE intervention model are twofold: (1) reduce psychological distress and amplify protective factors among individuals and communities at risk of experiencing disasters; and (2) build individual and community psychological support response capacity. The intervention will be delivered by trained Community Facilitators (CFs) at community institutions (i.e., churches) to their institutional members. We will conduct a stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial (SWCRCT) to examine the impact of the COPE intervention. Measures of mental health, coping, social support and community resilience will be assessed at four timepoints (see timeline for data collection timepoints). We will conduct interviews and group reflections with CFs and participants to gain insight into their experiences with the intervention.