Getting INFORMED and living well: A demonstration project to facilitate pandemic recovery among Asian Americans in California

Research Updates

Updated January 2025
We evaluated the multilingual “INFORMED-Living Well” program designed to promote mental well-being with 616 adult Asian Californians. Participants received text messages and some also chose to receive support from community health educators. We learned that the program was well-received, with many participants gaining knowledge about where to get help, improving their mental well-being, and supporting their families. Those with community health educator support had greater improvements in decision-making about seeking mental health help. This is important because it shows that culturally targeted programs can effectively improve mental health awareness and decision-making in Asian American communities.

Project Updates

• Project website: Informed: Living Well

Proposed Research and Background

One in six Californians is Asian American. The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by the unprecedented increase in anti-Asian hate-related incidents, has devastating impacts, including increased concerns in mental well-being among our diverse Asian American communities.

The Project INFORMED team is leading the “INFORMED and Living Well Project” to facilitate pandemic recovery among Asian Californians. Project INFORMED (Individual and Family Oriented Responsive Message and Education) is an academic-community collaborative partnership, co-led by investigators at multiple University of California campuses (San Francisco, Davis, and Merced), and community partners (Chinese Community Health Resource Center, the Fresno Center, and Immigrant and Resettlement Cultural Center). By utilizing text messaging and lay health worker (LHW) remote outreach to deliver COVID-19 related education, INFORMED has shown high retention (95%) and high engagement (94% completed educational sessions; 71% viewed or commented on the study website) with 247 Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese participants.

Leveraging INFORMED’s infrastructure, we are expanding INFORMED to promote emotional wellness and to include Korean language. The new intervention “INFORMED-Living Well” includes a 6-week program in which participants may choose to receive text only or text + LHW outreach targeting 600 self-identified Asian Americans residing in California who speak/read English, Chinese, Korean, Hmong or Vietnamese.

Through this projedct, we are evaluating improvements in:

1. confidence of making well-informed decisions on seeking mental health care when needed;
2. mental health-related symptoms; and
3. perceived capability of managing emotional wellness.

We are studying the factors at individual, interpersonal and community levels that are associated with the outcomes. Findings will guide large-scale intervention and policy directives to effectively address mental health-related disparities among Asian Americans. 

Collaborators

• UC Davis
• UC Merced
• Chinese Community Health Resource Center (CCHRC)
• Immigrant Resettlement and Cultural Center Inc
• The Fresno Center
• Healthwise