Positive Minds Strong Bodies – Implementation

Racial/ethnic and linguistic minority elders represent the fastest growing segment of an aging US population. However, they have less access to mental health care and disability prevention services, leading to significant disparities. This renewal grant tests whether the Positive Minds Strong Bodies – Enhanced intervention (PMSB-E) is acceptable in community-based organizations and clinics, and allows effectiveness to be strengthened through added group maintenance components. The intervention provides 10 individual psychosocial sessions offered by a Community Health Worker and group exercise sessions offered in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.  The enhanced program includes areas to strengthen the intervention, to facilitate easier adoption at the organizational level and to increase mental health symptom reduction beyond 6 months. We additionally assess implementation readiness of the PMSB-E, to ensure that its package of interventions is feasible and can be easily adopted, with reduced barriers to its sustainability.

Our specific aims are as follows:

Aim 1: Evaluate the acceptability, effectiveness, and twelve-month sustainability of the Enhanced Positive Minds-Strong Bodies intervention offered by CHWs and Exercise Trainers in CBOs and community clinics.

Aim 2: Assess implementation readiness of the Enhanced PMSB (E-PMSB) intervention by evaluating factors associated with acceptability, feasibility, adoption, and sustainability.

 Aim 3: Develop a toolkit to support dissemination and implementation of the Enhanced Positive Mind-Strong Bodies intervention by other community-based organizations and clinics.

A COVID-19 supplement will additionally address mortality and the potential mitigating effects of the PMSB intervention in reducing mental health symptoms and physical disability for Elders who took part in the original trial.

This study and its COVID supplement are funded by the National Institute on Aging (R01AG046149) with supplemental funding from and the National Institute of Mental Health. 

Contact mghpmsbe@partners.org for further information.