Train and EMPOWER A Community Health Workforce to Achieve Equity and Reduce Disparities in Mental Health (TEACH)

April 30, 2026 updated by: Baylor Research Institute

The investigators suggest a multi-step approach to improve access to mental health care for minority groups. The plan focuses on three goals: increasing diversity in the mental health workforce, bringing more expertise into the community, and strengthening the community's ability to address the factors that impact mental health.

To do this, the TEACH study team will work with students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups at a minority-serving school. Students will be provided the opportunity to obtain their CHW Certification while receiving course credit for their degree. Students will then be eligible to participate in an internship to utilize their skills. The TEACH study team will help these students with their training, supervision, and ongoing support. These students will then be able to work with their communities to tackle common mental health issues and the social factors that contribute to those problems.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

1500

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Texas
      • Dallas, Texas, United States, 75204
        • Baylor Scott and White Research Institute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Must be enrolled as a UTA undergraduate student with unmet internship hours
  • Must be aged 18 and over
  • Must be able to provide informed consent.
  • Must have successful completion of the UTA CHW/EMPOWER course (Phase 2) and/or State of Texas CHW certification (for non-EMPOWER-trained CHWs) at the start of internship

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Under 18 years
  • Not enrolled as an undergraduate student at UTA
  • Unable to provide informed consent
  • Non-successful completion of EMPOWER course and/or State of Texas CHW certification at the start of internship

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EMPOWER-trained CHWs
Undergraduate students at the University of Texas at Arlington will engage in a semester-long course for training of students as CHWs with additional EMPOWER training for delivering a brief trans-diagnostic psychosocial intervention. CHW certified students will then engage in an internship at Baylor Scott and White Health.
Students will participate in a special topics course resulting in a CHW certification with the state of Texas. The course will focus on behavioral activation interventions. Undergraduate Bachelor of Social Work (BSWs) students will then be deployed to the health system as certified CHWs with mental health training to provide a sufficient level of care for many, and an entry point to clinical care for those who have needs that are currently unaddressed.
No Intervention: Non-EMPOWER-trained interns
Intern health workers who have not undergone the EMPOWER training curriculum will engage in an internship at Baylor Scott and White Health.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Job Placement
Time Frame: 12 months after the intervention has ended
Data collected regarding career placement and/or further educational pursuits (i.e. MSW)
12 months after the intervention has ended

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Time Frame: Baseline, an average of 5 months after the start of the intervention, and immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 PTSD Checklist - Scores range from 0-80 where higher scores indicate more severe PTSD symptoms
Baseline, an average of 5 months after the start of the intervention, and immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Primary Care Visits
Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Healthcare Utilization - Number of primary care visits
Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Anxiety
Time Frame: Baseline, an average of 5 months after the start of the intervention, and immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 - Scores range from 0-21, where higher scores indicate more severe anxiety
Baseline, an average of 5 months after the start of the intervention, and immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Behavioral Health Visits
Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Number of Behavioral Health Visits
Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Quality of Behavioral Health Visits
Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Description of the quality of any behavioral health visits
Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Acute Hospital Stays
Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Number of acute hospitalizations
Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Emergency Department Stays
Time Frame: Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Number of emergency department visits
Immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Depression
Time Frame: Baseline, an average of 5 months after the start of the intervention, and immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months
Patient Health Questionnaire 9 - Scores range from 0-27. Higher scores indicates that major depressive disorder is likely.
Baseline, an average of 5 months after the start of the intervention, and immediately after the intervention, an average of 10 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Katherine Sanchez, PhD, LCSW, Baylor Scott and White Health
  • Principal Investigator: Ann Marie Warren, PhD, ABPP-RP, Baylor Scott and White Health

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 6, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 26, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 7, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

March 11, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 30, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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