1 - (SYM 127) Levering Human-centered Design & Community-engagement Principles to Inform the Development of an Acculturative Stress Group for Latinx Immigrants/refugees - The Cultivating Resilience Intervention

Background: Acculturative stress is a robust predictor of health decline in Latinx immigrant adults the longer they reside in the US, contributing to health inequities. There are several existing acculturative stress reduction psychosocial interventions for Latinx immigrants, however, they are not making a significant public health impact. More attention needs to be given to the simultaneous rigorous testing of these interventions combined with efforts supporting wide-scale dissemination. Moreover, the majority of existing interventions have been developed for families with the goal of preventing youth from engaging in risky health behaviors, and therefore a relative gap in the literature concerns interventions that are designed from adult immigrants and refugees.  

Methods: To address these gaps in the literature, we combined principles and methods drawn from health equity research, community-engaged methods, human-centered design, and implementation science. Over the course of two years, we iteratively co-developed the Cultivating Resilience intervention alongside community partners, a Community Advisory Board, and a Community Consultation Studio.  

Results: The result of our multifaceted process is a culturally relevant and appropriate 8-session psychosocial group focused on reducing acculturative stress and increasing resilience in adult immigrants and refugees. The content of Cultivating Resilience incorporates evidence-based components derived from contemporary cognitive-behavioral therapies as well as innovative cultural components suggested by our community partners.  This presentation will report on data collected from pilot testing of the intervention through a proof-of-concept study (n=10) and a subsequent pilot study comparing the Cultivating Resilience intervention (n=20) vs. a waitlist control (n=20). Data collection is ongoing and will be presented at the ABCT 2023 conference.

Discussion: This approach represents a model from which other psychosocial interventions can be developed, and especially holds promise as a means of increasing generalizability of findings among communities that have been underrepresented in translational research.