Latino Multifamily Group Program

The Latino Multifamily Group (Latino MFG) program facilitates the involvement of Spanish-speaking Latino families in mental health services for their ill family members. Based on the Multifamily Group program first developed by Dr. William McFarlane and widely validated, the Latino MFG program is presented in Spanish and is culturally-adapted, with learning materials for professionals in English. The Latino adaptation also is based on many years of work by Dr. Alex Kopelowicz, including a seven-year NIMH research study.

This five-year project (2008-2012) focused on families of Latino children and adolescents, one of the first such language and cultural adaptation of the MFG program to this population anywhere in the United States. Six pilot implementations were conducted and evaluated (see evaluation reports below). The pilots were in mental health agencies located in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles (see Latino MFG Project Final Report (.pdf)).

A Latino MFG Manual, published in April 2011, includes learning activities related to content, effective implementation and sustainability of this program (download below). It also has printable forms for use in MFG sessions. Also downloadable from the list below are:

(a) a one-page Latino MFG project summary,
(b) three evaluation reports on pilot implementations of the Latino MFG,
(c) general background pieces and reports about MFG and reports on the Latino MFG project,
(d) simple pre- and post- evaluation forms to measure the impact of staff training,
(e) two brief forms to gather information about Joining sessions and about family supports,
(f) a Family Interview form in both English and Spanish that can be used to gather input at the beginning of an MFG program,
(g) pre- and post clinical data forms to gather information on adolescent clients,
(h) interview forms to gather input from group facilitators and agency administrators after a group has ended
(i) five PowerPoints usable for (1) introducing mental health agency staff to the Latino MFG concept, (2) training staff in how to implement the program, and (3-5) conducting family psychoeducational workshops focused on adolescent clients with depression, ADHD or PTSD/anxiety, and
(j) seven "video vignettes" that illustrate aspects of the Joining, Problem-Solving and Psychoeducational Workshop components of the Latino MFG program.

All forms are in Word format so they can be filled out online or printed for write-in use.

The Manual provides an introduction to the Latino MFG and information needed to implement it in various organizational settings, including handouts which can be reproduced for MFG sessions. TheStaff Orientation PPT provides slides that can accompany a brief (typically one-hour) overview and discussion of the Latino MFG, to help staff of an agency decide whether to implement this program. The Staff Training PPT provides slides to accompany a day-long training for agency staff that develops basic skills to implement and offer the Latino MFG on an ongoing basis. The threePsychoeducation PowerPoints, all of which are in Spanish, provide slides to accompany a day-long educational workshop for family members whose adolescent relative is dealing with one of several mental disorders. These PPTs can be modified with additional material by local implementers as they may see fit.

A national dissemination effort was conducted, in partnership with the Latino Behavioral Health Institute and the National Network to End Disparities in Behavioral Health - which implemented a Community of Practice that offered training, information and peer networking to mental health agencies across the country that were interested in implementing the Latino MFG (see LBHI Conference Workshop Presentation (.pdf) and NNED Final Report (.pdf)).

The Latino MFG effort is a sister project to Raising the Bar, which implemented the MFG program in San Fernando Valley mental health agencies serving adult client populations and English-speaking families (for more information go to Raising the Bar page in Resources).

Latino Multifamily Group Manual (.pdf)