June 1, 2018
Dr. Mitrzyk will study ways to improve how minorities seek and receive mental health care.

Beatriz Manzor Mitrzyk, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, a postdoctoral research fellow with the U-M College of Pharmacy, was recently announced as a winner of a U-M Depression Center Eisenberg Collaborative Innovations award. The purpose of the Eisenberg Collaborative Innovations awards are to support the implementation and dissemination of new advances that improve clinical outcomes for depressions and/or bipolar illnesses. The title of Dr. Mitrzyk’s study is “Mixed Methods Evaluation of Treatment-Seeking Behaviors, Cultural Tailoring, and Spanish-Language Educational Materials for Hispanics with Depression.”

Dr. Mitrzyk aims to look at why Hispanics with depression do not always receive the treatment they need. Disparities in antidepressant medication use in U.S. Hispanics require resolution to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with depression so that Hispanics may contribute fully to society. Results from this project will provide culturally-relevant messages that will improve the effectiveness of messaging and educational materials geared towards Hispanics.

Dr. Mitrzyk’s study will gather information from a national data set and Hispanics from Ann Arbor and Detroit, MI to understand how to best communicate information about depression and its treatment. Knowing how to encourage the treatment of depression in Hispanics could improve how many Hispanics seek care and how many take medications for depression the way they were prescribed.

Ultimately, her study will create a process for evaluating and developing culturally appropriate educational materials that can be applied to multiple races/ethnicities and help additional patients in outpatient care settings. After testing, the messages, tools, and educational materials will be more rigorously tested before being disseminated and implemented. Once implemented, these resources should help to improve care for Hispanics, better their health outcomes, and reduce health disparities.

Her work will begin in summer 2018.

Read the original release on the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center's website.