Key Dates

Related Announcements

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Issued by

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Purpose

This request for information (RFI) invites input on addressing gaps in: (1) Identifying determinants of mental health disparities beyond the individual level, including, but not limited to, social determinants of health (SDOH) at the social, systemic and structural levels, and (2) Developing culturally responsive, multilevel interventions to address mental health disparities. This RFI seeks input about these research gaps within U.S.-based research from healthcare providers, scientific research communities, patient advocacy groups, people with lived experience, educators, and other interested parties. The NIMH encourages organizations (e.g., patient advocacy groups, professional organizations) to submit a single response reflective of the views of the organization and membership as a whole. Responses may incorporate empirical research, lived experience, public records, and any other sources that may inform the RFI. Feedback is requested on the themes outlined below .

Background

Mental health disparities refer to inequities in the onset, course and severity of mental illness, as well as service access and quality, among health disparities populations. The NIH defines health disparities populations as racial/ethnic minoritized people, sexual and gender minorities, those with low socioeconomic status, rural populations, and persons with disabilities. For example, suicidal thoughts and behaviors are rising among Black, Indigenous and sexual and gender minority youth. Often, individuals belong to more than one health disparity population, and thus exist at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities. Intersectionality refers to the interlocking and overlapping systems of oppression that individuals with multiple marginalized identities experience. Intersectionality is a crucial consideration in multilevel health disparities research, as there may be unique multilevel determinants shaping health disparities at various intersections of identity.

The National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Research Framework specifies multiple domains of influence on health disparities, including biological (e.g., biological vulnerability), behavioral (e.g., health behaviors), physical/built environment (e.g., transportation access), sociocultural environment (e.g., discrimination), and healthcare systems (e.g., quality of care) factors. Multilevel approaches to address mental health disparities integrate across these domains to include factors at multiple levels of analysis. Many of these risk and resilience factors are conceptualized as social determinants of health (e.g., housing security, food security, built environment, discrimination, health care access, policy). Multilevel interventions, particularly those that target SDOH, have the best promise for addressing mental health disparities, yet there have been few examinations of such interventions. SDOH are key objectives in Healthy People 2030, with some SDOH included as Leading Health Indicators (e.g., environmental exposures, food insecurity), representing the federal government’s commitment to ameliorating SDOH to address health disparities.

The NIMH seeks input on (1) Identifying determinants of mental health disparities beyond the individual level, and (2) Developing culturally responsive, multilevel interventions to address mental health disparities.  Comments may address, but are not limited to, the bulleted topics below. When appropriate, please also include hyperlinks to pertinent references, databases, or other online resources.

Areas of Interest

Identifying determinants of mental health disparities beyond the individual level (e.g., SDoMH):

• Gaps in our understanding of determinants of mental health disparities beyond the individual level.
• Barriers to studying determinants of mental health disparities beyond the individual level.
• Methodological and measurement considerations for examining and integrating SDoMH in mental health disparities research, including the use of common data elements (e.g., PhenX Toolkit).
• How to engage community members (e.g., leaders of community-based organizations, those with lived experience) to identify social (e.g., discrimination, isolation), systemic (e.g., health care system, school system), and structural (e.g., structural racism, policy) drivers of mental health disparities within their communities.

Developing multilevel interventions addressing mental health disparities:

• Integrating individual, interpersonal, social, systemic, and structural targets into multilevel intervention development to address mental health disparities.
• Recommended approaches (e.g., study design, methods, measurement) for developing multilevel interventions to address mental health disparities.
• Barriers and facilitators to engaging in multilevel intervention design and implementation.
• Considerations for developing culturally responsive multilevel interventions to address mental health disparities.
• Integrating intersectionality into multilevel interventions to address mental health disparities.
• Strategies for engagement with community members, providers, and other important representatives in the development and implementation of multilevel interventions to address mental health disparities.
• Bi-directional relationships among multilevel intervention research, practice and policy.

How To Submit Responses

• All responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically on the RFI submission website: https://rfi.grants.nih.gov/?s=660aba074ad95ecc1e05e3f2. The NIH encourages organizations (e.g., patient advocacy groups, professional organizations) to submit a single response reflective of the views of the organization and membership as a whole.
• Responses must be received by May 30, 2024, at 11:59 pm ET. You will see an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response.
• Responses to this RFI are voluntary and may be submitted anonymously. You may voluntarily include your name and contact information with your response. If you choose to provide NIH with this information, NIH will not share your name and contact information outside of NIH unless required by law.
• Other than your name and contact information, please do not include any personally identifiable information or any information that you do not wish to make public. Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should not be included in your response. The government will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its discretion. Other than your name and contact information, the government reserves the right to use any submitted information on public websites; in reports; in summaries of the state of the science; in any possible resultant solicitation(s), grant(s), or cooperative agreement(s); or in the development of future funding opportunities.
• This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only and is not a solicitation for applications or an obligation on the part of the government to provide support for any ideas identified in response to it. Please note that the government will not pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for use of that information.
• We look forward to your input and hope that you will share this RFI opportunity with your colleagues.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Juliette C. McClendon, Ph.D.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Telephone: 301-379-0413
Email: juliette.mcclendon@nih.gov