Inspire Multicultural Holistic Campus Participant Mental Health Outcomes

Departments of public mental health have sought to address health disparities by utilizing traditional clinical approaches; however, this method is less than optimal for targeted communities. San Bernardino's Department of Behavioral Health has developed an innovative approach to address disparities related to mental health awareness, service utilization, and mental health outcomes. Their approach relies on a community-based organization, the Inspire Multicultural Holistic Campus, which provides preventative and traditional mental health services that are community developed. This study reports findings from an evaluation of Inspire and its impact on community participants. This study aimed to examine whether the Latino/a participants displayed an enhanced sense of general wellness and increased mental health awareness due to holistic campus participation. Methods of assessment included surveys and logged visitor documentation. This study focused on 970 participants that had provided demographic information within a larger sample of 1,267 Inspire participants. Furthermore, the study focuses on the Latino/a sample (n = 505) given their preponderance in the overall sample (70%). The findings provide support for an enhanced overall sense of wellness. Specifically, the findings suggest that there was a decrease in depressive and anxiety symptoms. The evidence is mixed as to whether mental health awareness increased and mental health stigma decreased. Further analysis of the data and qualitative interviews are currently underway to further understand these mixed findings. Continued evaluation of the holistic campus is vital to assess its impact on community members’ growth and to determine optimal methods that effectively address health disparities of targeted communities.