NCT06859060

Improving Health and Wellness for People With Serious Mental Illness in Puerto Rico

Testing Bridges to Better Health and Wellness for People Living With Serious Mental Illness in Puerto Rico

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 300 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Ponce Medical School Foundation, Inc. · Industry
• Sex: All
• Age: 21 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a culturally tailored intervention, Bridges to Better Health and Wellness (BRIDGES), aimed at reducing chronic disease disparities among Puerto Ricans with serious mental illness (SMI). Participants receive monthly sessions with health care managers to address patient-provider stigma and care coordination.

Detailed description

BRIDGES is a multi-level Healthcare Manager Intervention (HMI) that addresses both patient and provider barriers to healthcare. It includes culturally adapted modules to reduce stigma and promote chronic disease prevention. The study uses a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation randomised controlled trial to test its impact on primary care service use, chronic disease outcomes and stigma reduction over 12 months.

Conditions

• Chronic Disease
• Serious Mental Illness

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	BRIDGES Healthcare Manager Intervention	A culturally adapted, multilevel intervention consisting of monthly 60-minute sessions over a 12-month period. Sessions will be conducted by graduate clinical psychology students acting as healthcare managers. The intervention focuses on care coordination, patient activation, and reducing provider stigma to improve access to preventive primary care services.
OTHER	Enhanced Treatment as Usual (ETAU)	Participants will continue to receive standard psychiatric care, including routine visits with their mental health providers at the designated clinical sites. They will also receive a booklet with information on how best to link with primary care providers. This ensures that participants are aware of available resources and basic health care recommendations, but does not include any active follow-up or intervention components.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-08-01
• Primary completion: 2029-02-28
• Completion: 2029-02-28
• First posted: 2025-03-05
• Last updated: 2025-03-05

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Puerto Rico