Piloting Community-Based Training with Food Banks to Support Mental Health in Rural Colorado
Keywords
Mental health, food security, community partnerships
Types of Research
Dissemination and implementation research; Community-based participatory
Summary
This project will pilot the Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory (COMET) peer-led mental health support training in rural western Colorado food pantries. Using data collected during a year of partnership development work, the curriculum will be tailored to address context-specific needs. A regional workshop will train a group of food pantry staff and volunteers to deliver COMET to their peers, followed by implementation in three locations. Mixed-methods evaluation will assess feasibility, acceptability, and intentions to use the training. Pilot results will be shared throughout Food Bank of the Rockies’ network of hunger relief partners.
Significance
Food pantries are a vital, integrated, and trusted, source of support for low-income families in western Colorado. This project aims to better equip western Colorado food pantry staff and volunteers to support community members experiencing mental health challenges.
Impact
This work will translate an innovative and evidence-based mental health support program into a new setting, accelerating its potential to improve mental health for a broader range of communities.
Translational Science Benefits Model* Benefits | ||
| Demonstrated: Benefits are those that have been observed and verifiable. Potential: Benefits are those logically expected with moderate to high confidence | ||
| Delivery of a peer-led mental health support training to food pantry staff and volunteers. Demonstrated |  | Health Education Resources |
*The Translational Science Benefits Model is a framework designed to help public health and clinical scientists demonstrate the impact of their work in the real world. The Translational Science Benefits Model and Translating for Impact Toolkit © 2017-2023, created by the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and available at translationalsciencebenefitsmodel.wustl.edu, is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Implications for Reducing Health Disparities
This project aims to address the mental health disparity gap for families experiencing food insecurity.