SanaMenteSanaMente: A Peer-Led, Evidence-Based Mental Health and Lifestyle Program to Reduce Health Disparities in Rural Latino/a Communities

This Stage IB feasibility and pilot study is designed to refine and evaluate the SanaMente program, a culturally tailored, peer-led intervention developed to address the intersecting mental and physical health needs of rural Latinx adults living with chronic medical conditions. The study will assess implementation processes and generate preliminary evidence to inform a future, fully powered efficacy trial. The intervention will be delivered by bilingual peer mentors who will receive standardized training prior to facilitating small group sessions. Throughout the study, implementation outcomes-including recruitment, retention, attendance, intervention fidelity, and participant engagement-will be monitored to evaluate the practicality of delivering the program in rural community settings. A mixed-methods evaluation will be used to examine both implementation and participant outcomes. Quantitative analyses will estimate changes in mental health symptoms, health behaviors, and overall well-being over the course of the intervention, with effect size estimates used to inform the design and sample size of future studies. Qualitative data collected from participant feedback will be analyzed to identify factors influencing program engagement, perceived benefits, barriers to participation, and recommendations for improving program content and delivery. Study findings will be used to optimize the SanaMente intervention, enhance its cultural relevance and implementation strategies, and establish the feasibility of conducting a larger randomized controlled trial to evaluate its effectiveness.