Project Title
PALOMA Partnering with Parents | Apoyando a Padres
Project Summary
Background
Most youth who die by suicide have seen a medical provider in the past year, yet pediatricians experience substantial barriers to implementing recommended suicide prevention strategies. These challenges (i.e., mental health stigma; lack of time and treatment options) are exacerbated for pediatricians serving Latine immigrant families, given the time needed to provide bilingual care, build trust, and address structural barriers to care. Community health workers (CHWs) can extend the pediatrician’s role by partnering with parents to promote youth safety and well-being in a culturally responsive manner.
Intervention
Our multidisciplinary team adapted evidence-based suicide prevention to create Paloma (Partnering with Parents of Adolescent Latines on Mental Health Assistance), a five-session telephone intervention delivered to parents by CHWs. Beginning in April 2024, we tested the intervention in a pragmatic open pilot for Spanish-speaking Latine caregivers of adolescents referred from three pediatric practices due to their child’s experience of suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and/or suicidal behavior. We collected data from baseline and follow-up survey interviews with caregivers and youth, qualitative interviews, electronic health records, and implementation metrics. Our primary aims were to assess feasibility and acceptability of the intervention; assess changes in patient-level outcomes as reported by parent-child dyads; and identify implementation barriers and facilitators.
Preliminary Results
Reach: 76 referrals from 23 providers at 3 partnering practices
Acceptability: 92% of referred caregivers enrolled in the intervention
Feasibility: 84% of enrolled caregivers completed all 5 sessions
Quantitative: In a preliminary analysis of pre-post data from 31 participants using paired samples T-tests, we found a statistically significant increase in parent self-efficacy for suicide prevention (d=1.19, p<.001) and confidence to engage in suicide prevention activities (d=1.34, p<.001)
Program evaluation: All post-survey respondents agree or strongly agree that the intervention helped them to support their child and that the intervention and materials are easy to understand
As a parent, you can:
- Call your child’s pediatrician
- Contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 to speak to a counselor (Press 2 for Spanish)
- Take your child to the Emergency Room or Call 911
Project updates
- Visit the PALOMA Prevención de Suicidio Adolescente website https://www.programapaloma.com/ where there are evidence-based resources and practical tools to prevent suicide among Spanish-speaking Latine youth.
- Click here to download the summary page of PALOMA
Project Details
| Principal Investigator | Funder |
| Polk, Sarah – MD, ScM Alvarez, Kiara – PhD | National Institutes of Health, American Psychological Foundation, Eudowood, Thomas Wilson Foundation, Bloomberg American Health Initiative |
| Department/s | Project Start Date |
| Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health | 2022 |
| Co – Principal Investigator | Project End Date |
| N/A | 2026 |
| Co – Investigators | Team Members |
| Campo, John Haroz, Emily Musci, Rashelle Platt, Rheanna Schindelheim, Samantha Wilcox, Holly | Staff
Paloma Parent Advisory Board Research Assistants
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