Attachment_1_-_SOW.pdf

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STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES (NIMHD)

DIVISION OF INTRAMURAL RESEARCH (DIR)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Division of Intramural Research (NIMHD DIR) plans and directs the Institute’s clinical, behavioral, epidemiologic, and population health intramural research programs. Its research seeks to understand mechanisms that produce and contribute to health disparities, develop socio-behavioral interventions to reduce these disparities, and promote the health and well-being of racial/ethnic minority populations. Furthermore, the NIMHD DIR: analyzes research efforts and impact to establish intramural research program priorities;

collaborates with and coordinates intramural research on minority health and health disparities conducted by the Institutes and Centers at NIH; raises awareness of health disparities research; advises the Institute Director and staff on matters of scientific interest to the Institute; and assists with development and implementation of the Institute’s Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Strategic Plan.

1.1. NEW YORK CITY GHANAIAN IMMIGRANT MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

PROJECT

The processes of migration of immigrants from their countries to a new environment where they experience different values, morals, a new language, culture, can be highly disruptive and translate to a higher risk for stress-related disease and suboptimal lifestyles. According to Pew Research Center Africans account for the fastest growth in the United States (U.S.) Black immigrant population. Between 2000 to 2019, the African immigrant population grew 246% from about 600,000 over 2 million. More than half of the approximately the 2 million population reside large cities like Washington D.C., New York City, Dallas, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Atlanta. In New York City, Africans have settled in neighborhood such as Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and recently Staten Island. Despite the growing number of Africans, most health disparities research have focused on African Americans whose families have been living in the United States (U.S). for many generations. It is essential to point out that while there are shared intra-group similarities between African Americans and African immigrants, intra-group differences (e.g., beliefs, language, food, culture) exist.; which may affect immigrants' mental health and experiences differently. A recent study on health problems among African immigrants in New York identified mental health concerns as one of the top three problems reported to community-based organizations.

Studies have also shown that in coping with life stressors, many people seek help to alleviate their stress through mental health services. While there is a significant benefit from using mental health services, studies in the U.S. have shown that naturalized citizens and noncitizens were 40% less likely to use the services than U.S.-born citizens.

Given the rapidly U.S. immigrant population and the known health risks associated with acculturation, it is critical to examine the complex relationships that can compromise immigrants' health. However, studying acculturation and social determinants of immigrants' health are particularly challenging due to the complex interactions of factors and their fluid nature. These factors, which are sociocultural, environmental, economic, biological, and genetic, are often interconnected, requiring interdisciplinary and novel approaches to disentangle effects. As a result, we want to apply transdisciplinary

Page 2 out of 7 measures including community-based participatory research (CBPR) to understand the dynamic complexity underlying acculturative stress and mental well-being among Ghanaian immigrants living in New York City. The predominantly Ghanaian areas in the city are Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.

Consequently, the Immigrant Health & Health Disparities (IHD) Research

Laboratory within NIMHD is looking for an organization to provide services as outlined below to understand and reduce immigrant stress-related mental health to promote mental well-being among the Ghanaian Immigrant Community.

The overall objective is to use a mixed method approach to gather data related to targeted communities through qualitative interview interviews to engage with key stakeholders and community members at large to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, concerns, risk factors, and coping mechanisms relating to mental health and well-being in the Ghanaian immigrant community in New York City. The Contractor would provide data to support laboratory’s Institutional Review Broad (IRB) protocol submission, conduct outreach, screening and recruitment of eligible participants, complete key informant interviews, conduct telephone/paper/electronic surveys, and gather data to support the understanding of the targeted community in New York City.

1.2 SCOPE

The Contractor will be required to:

PHASE I – BASELINE

• Community-Based Data Gathering and Synthesizing o Recruit a total of 100 key community stakeholders and “invisible leaders”

(adults aged 18 years & older) from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island (Ghanaian enclaves); and organize and coordinate meeting to introduce the project.

o Conduct 5 2-hour community listening sessions in each Ghanaian enclave, stratified religious affiliation (Christians & Muslims), and recruit 250 to 500 adult (aged 18+ years) participants.

o Conduct 45-60 minutes (n=90) one-on-one interviews.

o Provide verbatim transcripts and audio-recordings of all listening sessions materials and one-on-one interviews to the NIMHD IHD Research Lab.

o Establish a community advisory board and convene meetings.

PHASE II - SURVEY DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Collaborate to develop targeted survey o Build survey in REDCap.

o Recruit a total of 300 community members to respond to surveys.

PHASE III - DESIGN AND PILOT TEST INTERVENTION

o Perform research to identify 2 communities for intervention (1 as Case and 1 as Control).

Page 3 out of 7 o Exact details to be determined based on data collection in Phase I and Phase

II.

PHASE IV – Community Sharing of Findings o Conduct 5 2-hour community presentations in each Ghanaian enclave, to share project findings and discuss future implications.

o Prepare final report of entire project

2.0 REQUIREMENTS

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall perform the research tasks described below.

2.1 TASKS

The Contractor will perform the following:

o Ongoing Tasks:

▪ Provide data and analysis to support NIMHD IHD Research Lab's IRB

Protocol submission for each project phase.

▪ Weekly Project meeting with NIMHD.

▪ Community Advisory Board Council quarterly meeting.

▪ Create screener and recruitment materials for NIMHD review.

▪ Identify and Hire at least one experienced community liaisons to organize community activities (“Ghanaian Community Gatekeepers”).

▪ Identify potential participants.

▪ Contact potential participants by word of mouth, telephone, etc., to explain project to potential participants and screen them for eligibility.

Track screening results.

▪ Be point-of-contact for participant questions for all project activities

▪ Monitoring all project phases and ensure the accurate completeness of each project phase in timely manner.

▪ Fulfill incentives for all participants that completed their interview, survey and intervention. Document social, behavioral, structural, environmental, and economic factors that lead to well-being/poor health in the Ghanaian immigrant community in New York City.

o Phase I Tasks:

▪ Read background materials to learn about the project purpose and procedures.

▪ Attend contract kickoff meeting via teleconference.

▪ Recruit and organize Key Stakeholder Engagement Meeting (ZOOM or in person).

▪ Recruit and set up project Community Advisory Board Council in consultation with Project Sponsor

▪ Work with NIMHD Project Sponsor on procedures for community listening session and interview guides and execute them appropriately.

▪ Identify and provide space for community events in Ghanaian enclaves.

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▪ Organize Community Listening Sessions on mental health in each of

5 Ghanaian enclaves.

▪ Schedule eligible individuals for one-on-one interview session.

▪ Send eligible individuals confirmation including informed consent statement, instructions, and confirm scheduled interview and community events.

▪ Schedule eligible individuals for one-on-one interview session.

o Phase II Tasks:

▪ Work with NIMHD Project Sponsor on the development of survey instrument and execute them appropriately.

▪ Collect 300 survey responses from participants o Phase III Tasks:

▪ Work with NIMHD Project Sponsor on the development of intervention materials and execute them appropriately.

▪ Identify Community Wellness Facilities for intervention implementation o Phase IV Tasks:

▪ Organize community sessions for dissemination of results at the end of the project to the Ghanaian community in New York City.

▪ Write summary report

2.2 DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall make all services to the IHD Lab in NIMHD via a secure side (TBD) at the end of each project phase.

o The contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD monthly itemized budgets/financial tracking and a semi-annual progress report.

o The contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a monthly report on recruitment and enrollment statuses.

o The contractor shall deliver copy of the anonymized raw data to NIMHD at the conclusion each phase of the project.

Phase I

Deliverable Description Due Date

IRB Submission Collaborating with NIMHD team on writing IRB protocol including listening session, interview instruments, and all necessary IRB materials.

One Month Post Award

Key Stakeholder Meeting

Contractor shall recruit and conduct Key Stakeholder Engagement Meetings, (Up to 100 participants, minimum 50)

Phase I

Community Listening Session

Contractor shall coordinate, promote, and recruit for 5 community events in Ghanaian cultural

Phase I

Page 5 out of 7 enclaves with up to 500 (minimum 250) participants.

Community Advisory Board

Contractor shall convene Community Advisory Board (CAB) with min up to 20 (Minimum 15) members representing Ghanaian communities citywide. CAB will remain in place for Phases I-IV.

Phase I

Interviews w. Select Participants

Contractor shall recruit and conduct in-depth interviews with min up to 90 (Minimum 75) Key Informants

Phase I

Monthly Recruitment & Enrollment Report

Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a monthly report on recruitment and enrollment of participant (Key Stakeholder engagement meeting, Community Listening Sessions, and Interviews with Select Participants).

Monthly, Phase I

Monthly & Semi- Annual Itemized Budget Progress Report

Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a report will cover progress toward accomplishing the milestones and tasks outline in the SOW to achieve the final deliverables, any deviations, challenges and plans to overcome challenges.

Monthly & Semi- Annually

Listening Session Data

Contractor shall maintain record of all listening recordings, transcription of recordings and deliver copy of the anonymized raw data to NIMHD at the conclusion of Phase I.

End of Phase I

Interview Data Contractor shall maintain record of interview recordings, and transcription deliver copy of the anonymized raw data to NIMHD at the conclusion.

End of Phase I

Phase II

IRB Submission Collaborate with NIMHD team to develop survey instrument and submit IRB protocol.

Phase II

Survey Administration

Recruit participants and administer survey to up to 300 (minimum 250) Ghanaians living in the 5 enclaves identified in New York City.

Phase II

Recruitment & Enrollment Report

Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a report a monthly report on recruitment and enrollment of participant.

Monthly, Phase II

Monthly & Semi- Annual Itemized Budget Progress Report

Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a report will cover progress toward accomplishing the milestones and tasks outline in the SOW to achieve the final deliverables, any deviations, challenges and plans to overcome challenges.

Monthly & Semi- Annually, Itemized Budget and Progress Report

Survey Data Contractor shall deliver copy of the anonymized raw survey data to NIMHD at the conclusion of

End of Phase II

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Phase II.

Phase III

IRB Submission Work and collaborate with NIMHD team to develop pilot intervention based on results from Phase I & II and submit IRB protocol.

Phase III

Pilot Test Intervention Support

Identify 2-5 Community Mental Health Service Providers that provide mental health services for implementation of peer-to-peer mental health/mental well-being intervention.

Phase III

Pilot Intervention Implementation

Contractor will facilitate the Community Wellness Workers’ implementation of the pilot intervention.

For example, to lead workshops in the community on mental health (i.e., anxiety, depression, psychological distress) and on coping strategies.

End of Phase III

Monthly & Semi- Annual Itemized Budget Progress Report

Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a report will cover progress toward accomplishing the milestones and tasks outline in the SOW to achieve the final deliverables, any deviations, challenges and plans to overcome challenges.

Monthly & Semi- Annual Itemized Budget Progress Report Post

Track Intervention Data

Work closely with Healthcare Service Providers to track intervention participants, collect data, and share it NIMHD team at the end of project.

TBD Post Phase II

Phase IV

Presentation of Findings

Work with NIMHD team to prepare a presentation summarizing the findings from phase III for community sharing

Phase IV

Community Sharing Events

Recruitment and hosting of community events in the 5 cultural enclaves in New York City to share findings from phase III and discuss future implications with the Ghanaian community.

Phase IV

Recruitment The Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a monthly report on recruitment of participants.

Monthly

Monthly & Semi- Annual Itemized Budget Progress Report

The Contractor shall maintain and share with NIMHD a report which will cover progress toward accomplishing the milestones and tasks outline in the SOW to achieve the final deliverables, any deviations, challenges and plans to overcome challenges.

Monthly & Semi- Annual Itemized Budget Progress Report Post

Final Report Work with NIMHD team to prepare final report summarizing the findings from phases I, II, III, and

IV

End of Phase IV

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3.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY

No Government-owned computing equipment or property will be furnished.

4.0 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor must ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of all participants is preserved. The Contractor will comply with all NIH privacy and information security requirements to be specified in the contract.

5.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Phase I: 9 months Phase II: 9 months (Optional Task) Phase III: 9 months (Optional Task) Phase IV: 9 months (Optional Task)