Translational Science Benefits
Summary
Black women experience mental health challenges and intimate partner homicide resulting from intimate partner violence at higher rates than other groups.1-4 These problems are closely linked and can have serious effects on their safety and overall well-being.5 Depression is common among survivors. Reducing depressive symptoms can improve their mental health and quality of life.6
While supports for intimate partner violence survivors are available in formal systems of care, many do not fully include Black survivors in planning or treatment design.7,8 As a result, these programs may overlook cultural needs and fail to connect with the people they are meant to serve. This can lead to low participation, limited use, and mixed results. At the same time, many Black women rely on faith and spiritual support during difficult times.9,10 Black women are among the most religious groups in the United States, and churches often play an important role in healing and support.
Significance
Black women are disproportionately exposed to severe, long-term intimate partner violence, which can lead to ongoing depression.1,3 Existing and long-standing inequities within the mental healthcare system11,12 make it especially difficult for Black survivors to obtain immediate depression care.12,13 Partnering with trusted community resources like the Black church may help reach this underserved and often difficult-to-reach population.
Working with community partners, this project is adapting and implementing interpersonal counseling14—a brief, evidence-based intervention—for Black survivors with depression. Church leaders will deliver this intervention in a new faith-based setting. By providing free depression care in trusted faith-based settings, this project aims to reduce mental health inequities for Black survivors who are seeking help.
Benefits
Demonstrated benefits are those that have been observed and are verifiable.
Potential benefits are those logically expected with moderate to high confidence.
Clinical & medical benefits
Intervention tailoring was guided by community members most impacted. demonstrated.
Primary beneficiary:
Communities / Public
Clinicians and clients collaboratively designed a treatment. demonstrated.
Primary beneficiary:
Clients
Create and deliver PC-DIVAA intervention. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Clients
Community & public health benefits
Partner with Black survivors, two Black churches and community-based providers. demonstrated.
Primary beneficiary:
Communities / Public
Tailor IPC-DIVAA for multiple contexts across the global community. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Clients
Deliver a culturally tailored depression intervention for Black survivors seeking help in the Black church setting. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Clients
Deliver free depression care within trusted faith-based settings. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Clients
Train and certify lay health providers to deliver the manualized intervention. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Clinicians
Economic benefits
Reduce the financial burden related to delayed and no access to depression care. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Communities / Public
Reducing the societal and financial burden of depression and intimate partner violence by expanding free, culturally tailored mental healthcare through Black churches for Black women survivors. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Communities / Public
Train providers on IPC-DIVAA. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Clients
Policy & legislative benefits
Share the benefits of using a lay provider model to deliver depression care in community- and faith-based settings. potential.
Primary beneficiary:
Communities / Public
This research has clinical, community, economic, and policy implications. The framework for these implications were derived from the Translational Science Benefits Model created by the Institute of Clinical & Translational Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.15
Clinical
Delivering IPC-DIVAA in trusted faith- and community-based settings can improve access to care for people who may not otherwise receive depression treatment. Because the intervention is being tailored with and for the community, it is more likely to be culturally relevant and clinically useful for Black survivors who may be hesitant to seek mental health services in traditional settings. Survivors who receive timely care may have better short- and long-term outcomes.
Community
Partnering with the community improves the usefulness of the intervention. For example, offering free care reduces financial barriers, which is especially important for people without health insurance or with limited resources. Furthermore, having trained and certified lay providers deliver care may also make people feel more comfortable to seek help in a familiar setting.
Economic
Providing depression care at no cost may reduce delays in treatment caused by financial hardship. This can help people get support sooner and may reduce the broader costs associated with untreated depression.
Policy
Sharing the results of this model may encourage policymakers to support funding streams that help sustain lay-provider care in faith-based and community settings. It may also help show the value of expanding mental health services through trusted community partners.
Lessons Learned
Black women intimate partner violence survivors want to be the ones guiding how treatment is tailored and delivered. Their lived experiences, cultural knowledge, and understanding of what feels safe and acceptable are essential to creating an intervention that is both effective and trustworthy. For the first time, they can help shape a depression treatment model that reflects their needs rather than having services designed for them without their input.
This project also reinforces the importance of community partnership and shared decision-making in mental health care. Working alongside Black churches and trusted lay providers can help reduce stigma, increase comfort with seeking support, and improve engagement in care. It shows that mental healthcare is more likely to be used when it is delivered in spaces that feel familiar, respectful, and culturally affirming.
Another lesson is that access alone is not enough. Even when services are available, they must also be affordable, culturally responsive, and delivered by people whom survivors trust. Offering free care in faith-based settings helps remove financial and structural barriers, but meaningful impact depends on tailoring the intervention with the community, and not simply placing an existing model into a new setting.
Finally, this work highlights the value of training lay providers to expand the mental health workforce. With proper preparation and certification, trusted community members can play an important role in delivering support to survivors who might otherwise go without care. This model may offer a promising path for reaching people who are often underserved by traditional mental health systems.
- Lacey KK, Mouzon DM, Parnell RN, Laws T. Severe intimate partner violence, sources of stress, and the mental health of US Black women. J Womens Health 2021;30(1):17-28.
- Waller BY, Joseph VA, Keyes KM. Racial inequities in homicide rates and homicide methods among Black and White women aged 25-44 years in the USA, 1999-2020: a cross-sectional time series study. Lancet. 2024;403(10430):935-945.
- Waller BY, Lee SJ, Legros NC, et al. Interventions targeting depression and posttraumatic stress disorder in United States Black women experiencing intimate partner violence: a systematic review. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2024;25(3):2078-2089.
- Violence Policy Center. When Men Murder Women: A Review of 25 Years of Female Homicide Victimization in the United States. Violence Policy Center; 2023.
- Oram S, Fisher HL, Minnis H, et al. The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on intimate partner violence and mental health: advancing mental health services, research, and policy. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022;9(6):487-524.
- Mugoya GC, Witte T, Bolland A, et al. Depression and intimate partner violence among African American women living in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods. J Interpers Violence. 2020;35(3-4):899-923.
- Waller BY, Harris J, Quinn CR. Caught in the crossroad: an intersectional examination of African American women intimate partner violence survivors’ help seeking. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022;22(1):1235-1248
- Waller BY, Johnson KA, Goddard-Eckrich D, et al. “I thought I was going to die”: identifying gaps in the intimate partner violence service provision system for Black women. J Interpers Violence. 2025;41(5-6):1242-1266.
- Taylor RJ, Chatters LM. Patterns of informal support to elderly Black adults: family, friends, and church members. Soc Work. 1986;31(6):432-438.
- Shaw AR, Enriquez M, Bloom T, Berkley-Patton J, Vidoni ED. We are our sister’s keeper: the experience of Black female clergy responding to intimate partner violence. J Interpers Violence. 2020;37(1-2):NP968-NP990.
- Moise N, Hankerson S. Addressing structural racism and inequities in depression care. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021;78(10):1061-1062.
- Waller B, Goddard-Eckrich D, Kagotho N, et al. Sarah Waller’s help-seeking model: understanding African American women intimate partner violence survivors’ help-seeking process. J Interpers Violence. 2022;38(11-12):7170-7192.
- Waller BY, Richardson-Ridley M, Stefancic A, et al. Factors critical for implementing a sustainable depression intervention in faith-based settings. Transl Behav Med. 2026;16(1).
- Weissman MM, Hankerson SH, Scorza P, et al. Interpersonal counseling for depression in primary care. Am J Psychother. 2014;68(4):359-383.
- Luke DA, Sarli CC, Suiter AM, et al. The Translational Science Benefits Model: a new framework for assessing the health and societal benefits of clinical and translational sciences. Clin Transl Sci. 2017;11(1):77-84.
Additional Readings
- Bailey RK, Mokonogho J, Kumar A. Racial and ethnic differences in depression: current perspectives. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2019;15:603-609
- Breiding MJ, Armour BS. The association between disability and intimate partner violence in the United States. Ann Epidemiol. 2015;25(6):455-457.
- Breiding M, Basile KC, Smith SG, Black MC, Mahendra RR. Intimate Partner Violence Surveillance: Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements. Version 2.0. 2015.
- Cox K, Diamant J. Black men are less religious than Black women, but more religious than White women and men. Pew Research Center. September 26, 2018. Accessed February 19, 2025.
- Cox K. Key facts about Black Americans and religion. Pew Research Center. December 2, 2025. Accessed February 19, 2025.
- Ettman CK, Abdalla SM, Cohen GH, Sampson L, Vivier PM, Galea S. Prevalence of depression symptoms in US adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(9):e2019686.
- Feldstein AC, Glasgow RE. A practical, robust implementation and sustainability model for integrating research findings into practice. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2008;34(4):228-243.
- Gillum TL. The benefits of a culturally specific intimate partner violence intervention for African American survivors.Violence Against Women. 2008;14(8):917-943.
- Hankerson SH, Weissman MM. Church-based health programs for mental disorders among African Americans: a review. Psychiatr Serv. 2012;63(3):243-249.
- Hankerson SH, Wells K, Sullivan MA, et al. Partnering with African American churches to create a community coalition for mental health. Ethn Dis. 2018;28(Suppl 2):467.
- Iverson KM, Litwack SD, Pineles SL, et al. Predictors of intimate partner violence revictimization: the relative impact of distinct PTSD symptoms, dissociation, and coping strategies. J Trauma Stress. 2013;26(1):102-110.
- Shelton RC, Nathan N. Sustaining Evidence-Based Interventions. Springer; 2022.
- Williams LB, Abu Farsakh B, Karle ER, et al. How effective are church-based weight-loss interventions among Black adults? A systematic review. Obesity. 2024;32(11):2060-2076.
- Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ. The ADAPT-ITT model: a novel method of adapting evidence-based HIV interventions. JAIDS J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2008;47:S406.