Psychoeducation to Assist in Decreasing Depression and Increasing Participation in Psychotherapy in Blacks/African Americans

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to assess the effectiveness of a Psychoeducation Program (PP) in decreasing symptoms of depression and improving participation in psychotherapy amongst Blacks/African Americans at a Federally Qualified Health Care Center (FQHC) in Miami Dade County, Florida. Created by the project leader, the PP was built upon resources provided by trusted organizations such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH, 2020) and Beyond Blue of Australia (Beyond blue 2021). Method: The participants were comprised of 7 men and 5 women Blacks/African Americans living with depression, on antidepressants and not interested in participating in psychotherapy. Over a threemonth period, they received four educational sessions on the importance of combining antidepressants and psychotherapy. Data were collected from pre- and post-intervention. Results: An analysis of the quantitative data collected demonstrated that the educational intervention did contribute to a decrease of their depression score as well as their Psychoeducation Readiness Index (PRI) score. Conclusion: Psychoeducation has the potential to alleviate Blacks/African Americans symptoms of depression and to increase their PRI scores while offering concrete information to tailor evidence-based interventions to bridge the gap between their reticence and the benefit from the virtue of psychotherapy.