Leopoldo J. Cabassa’s dedication and passion for engaging in health disparities research has been shaped by his social work practice and research experiences in Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland. His work focuses on improving health and mental health care for underserved communities.
His research centers on examining physical and mental health disparities, particularly among racial/ethnic minorities with serious mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression). His research blends quantitative and qualitative methods, community engagement, intervention research and, more recently, implementation science.
Cabassa’s findings are making significant contributions in improving depression literacy and reducing stigma towards mental illness in the Hispanic community, identifying and understanding racial/ethnic health disparities in people with serious mental illness, and examining the adaptation and implementation of health interventions aimed at reducing these health inequities.
Leopoldo J. Cabassa, associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, is part of a team that has received a five-year $2.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study interventions for people suffering from mental health issues in Chile.
More investment is needed in research, funding and policy to improve the collection and analyses of disaggregated health data for the growing and diverse U.S. Latino population, finds a new report from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Stigmas, attitudes of self-reliance and misattributing symptoms led a group of young adults experiencing their first episode of psychosis to delay seeking treatment, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
The first study to examine the initial impact of a culturally-adapted health care manager intervention aimed at helping Hispanics with serious mental illness, led by Leopoldo Cabassa of the Brown School, finds the intervention shows potential for improving health outcomes for Hispanics.
