Development of Project Wings Home Visits, a Mental Health Intervention for Latino Families Using Community-Based Participatory Research

As the Latino population in the United States experi-ences rapid growth, the well-being of Latino adoles-cents is a growing concern because of their high rates of mental health problems. Latino adolescents have higher rates of mental health problems than their peers, including depressive symptoms, suicide attempts, and violence. Sophisticated, realistic health promotion efforts are needed to reduce these risk behaviors and enhance pro-tective factors. Parents and schools can be key protec-tive factors, or assets, in adolescents ’ lives. This article details the steps undertaken to develop Project Wings Home Visits, a collaborative school-based, community-linked mental health promotion intervention for Latino adolescents and their families. Core to the intervention is the use of a community health worker model to pro-vide home-based outreach and education to parents of Latino adolescents. The intervention was developed using a community-based participatory research approach that involved the cooperation of a community health care system, a public high school, and a university. Our process demonstrates the benefits, strengths, and chal-lenges of using community-based participatory research in creating and implementing health promotion inter-ventions