Healthcare• Branding• Participatory Research
Can trained non-clinician staff in community organizations deliver effective and safe psychological care for diverse adults with psychological distress?
RECOUP-NY stands for Restoring mental health after COVID-19 through community-based psychological services in NYC. It is a five-year pilot research study exploring a task-sharing approach to mental health care by training staff within community-based organizations to deliver mental health support in the communities they serve. The study evaluates Problem Management Plus (PM+), a five-session intervention developed by the World Health Organization to support people experiencing psychological distress.
I supported the implementation of this model through design research for cultural adaptation and communication systems that helped translate clinical frameworks into usable tools for providers and participants.
Key Outcomes
Pilot implementation in the U.S.
Through this work, PM+ has been adapted in the second location in the United States, in Duluth, Minnesota, in partnership with the Miller-Dwan Foundation! [link to their website] [launch video]
Role: Design Researcher and Graphic Designer
Collaborators: George Washington University, The New School, NYC Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health, Duke University, Human Sciences Research Council, King's College London
Duration: 5 Years | 2021 - 2026
Funder: National Institutes of Health
Context + Challenge
As mental health needs rise, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, new solutions are urgently needed. RECOUP-NY explores one such path: task-sharing. Instead of relying solely on clinical specialists, this approach trains trusted community members to deliver evidence-based mental health interventions, meeting people where they are, through systems they already trust.
The study uses Problem Management Plus (PM+), a five-session, psychological intervention developed by the World Health Organization for delivery by non-clinicians that teaches practical skills for managing stress, coping with problems, and improving emotional well-being.
While PM+ has been implemented globally, RECOUP-NY brings this model to the United States for the first time. The challenge was adapting the intervention for NYC communities while preserving the integrity of the intervention. My role within this multidisciplinary effort was to create pathways for community knowledge to shape the design of intervention materials, helping bridge research requirements with the realities of local care delivery.
Treatment Access Gap in New York City
39% could not afford care and 37% did not know where to go.
Emphasizes the need to build capacity within community-based organizations.
Expanding the reach to meet the mental healthcare needs of the community.
RECOUP-NY's Pathways of Care
This infographic shows how people move through different levels of mental health care based on their needs, highlighting exactly who the 5-session PM+ program is designed to help
Research Process
I worked alongside psychologists, public health researchers, community organization staff, and civic partners to understand where the intervention materials supported or hindered real-world use.
My role was to help translate across different forms of expertise: between research protocols and community realities, between clinical language and everyday experiences, and between what the intervention intended to communicate and what participants actually needed to understand.
Through collaborative reviews and brainstorming workshops, we examined materials at every level from facilitator manuals and training resources to participant worksheets and assessment tools.
We asked questions such as:
If you were to deliver PM+ again, what would you change about it?
What types of materials did you use with your clients?
What additional materials would be useful for your PM+ clients?
What should be included and/or excluded from the existing materials to be more useful, effective, and engaging?
Diagram showing how lab workshops were translated to structured adaptation requirements to design new materials
Community-based organizations provide feedback on new client handouts using digital platform Mural
Based on all the feedback gathered from the workshops, new materials were designed. Three rounds of iterations and community feedback sessions were conducted. The new materials were introduced in ongoing PM+ sessions to refine and finalize the workbook from the clients themselves.
An exercise sheet was tested with the PM+ participants at one of the training sessions
Design Deliverables
The design work focused on creating dual-purpose materials: those used to conduct the research itself, and those that support PM+ providers and recipients.
One major outcome was the development of a PM+ Workbook, bringing together the activities from all five intervention sessions into one cohesive resource. Previously, facilitators and participants had to navigate multiple documents throughout the program, making it harder to track progress and maintain continuity.
The workbook combined guided exercises, reflections, progress tracking, psychoeducation, and visual explanations to help participants understand not only what they were doing, but why they were doing it.
Community Informant Detection Tool (CIDT)
The Community Informant Detection Tool (CIDT) is a collection of scenarios and illustrations, was adapted to the various contexts of the community organizations. This tool helps the trained community members who are intimately familiar with the community, are especially well-placed and capable to identify people in need of mental health support. Designing these scenarios required careful consideration of whether the situations, imagery, and language reflected the realities of the communities being served.
The process followed:
Final CIDT examples:
A colorful and inviting identity and brand system was created for the research study. Community support, empowerment, and task-sharing are at the centre of this system.
Results + Impact
• Pilot implementation in the U.S.
• 30+ participating community-based organizations
• Through this work, PM+ has been adapted in the second location in the United States, in Duluth, Minnesota, in partnership with the Miller-Dwan Foundation! [link to their website] [launch video]
RECOUP-NY Team in action!
Publications
Expanding the Non‐Clinical Mental Health Workforce: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Psychological Intervention Delivered by Community‐Based Organizations in New York City (RECOUP‐NY): https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.prcp.20250027
The impact of task-sharing scalable mental health interventions on non-specialist providers: a scoping review: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-mental-health/article/impact-of-tasksharing-scalable-mental-health-interventions-on-nonspecialist-providers-a-scoping-review/E9651738AFC42247C051149D59BC3A0A
PROBLEM MANAGEMENT PLUS (PM+) Recommendations for Remote Training of PM+ Helpers: https://mcusercontent.com/c2523f4cbed5f394e2158b43f/files/e3f0b5bd-af26-113a-5874 bf56ff9477aa/PM_Remote_Training_Manual_6.21.2022_Final_draft.pdf