GREETINGS
Diana Morales, Director
NIMH Outreach Partnership Program
As we approach the end of 2016, the NIMH
Outreach Partnership Program would like to express our gratitude for the
Outreach Partner and National Partner efforts to educate the public about the
importance of mental health research and about high-priority NIMH research
initiatives like Recovery After An Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE).
Learn more about NIMH research priorities from the new NIMH director, Joshua
Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. in his new Director’s
Messages series. In November, he posted a welcome message to tell the public about
plans for his first year as director his priorities for research. In
his most recent
message, he identifies suicide prevention as a priority research
area and describes efforts to reduce the suicide rate. You can read more in
recent interviews with Dr. Gordon in Science and Nature magazines. Lastly, we thank you for your partnership and your organizations’ work to
reach the public with science-based mental health information. Your work is
critical to the Institute’s mission to increase the public health impact of its
research. We wish you happy holidays and look forward to working with you in
the new year!
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Outreach Partners have been disseminating NIMH materials and research findings throughout their states.
 NAMI Indiana shared NIMH-funded research findings about sleep's connection to childhood mental illness via Facebook.
 NAMI St. Louis informed its constituents via Facebook about the newly revised NIMH publication, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): The Basics.
 Nevada PEP retweeted a tweet from an NIMH webinar about anxiety disorders among children.
 To support residents in flood stricken areas of the state,
DBSA West Virginia shipped NIMH literature to disaster recovery responders, including state family resource networks, social workers, and doctors.
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NAMI
Wyoming used NIMH publications in a Crisis Intervention Team training for rangers at Yellowstone National Park.
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Outreach Partners often repurpose NIMH information to include in materials they create for educational efforts in their communities.
 MHA of South Central Kansas used
statistics
from the NIMH website on billboards that ran throughout the city as part of
promotional efforts for National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day activities.
MHA of Texas integrated content from NIMH webpages on its
mental health topic pages, including adapting NIMH anxiety information for its anxiety page.
Outreach Partners are using NIMH materials and research in their efforts to address mental health disparities.
MHA in Delaware used NIMH brochures about a range of disorders at a Mental Health First Aid training for librarians seeking to provide assistance to the homeless population frequenting their libraries.
NAMI Indiana partnered with a local Alpha Kappa Alpha chapter to conduct outreach to the African American community and distribute NIMH publications at the Indiana Black Expo.
Thanks to the Partners who continue to build on what was shared at the NIMH Outreach Partnership Program 2016 Annual Meeting. For example, National Partner Schizophrenia and Related
Disorders Alliance of America adapted the meeting summary to highlight the sessions on preventing
and treating psychosis in its e-newsletter.
An additional resource for highlighting the
information from the annual meeting is a recent NIH Record Story summarizing the meeting's panel discussion on addressing disparities in access to mental healthcare.
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Thanks to the many efforts of Outreach
and National Partners, communities are learning about first episode psychosis (FEP) programs and NIMH RAISE findings.
Raising Awareness
NAMI National hosted an “Ask
the Doctor” webinar about treating early psychosis featuring an NIMH-funded RAISE investigator, Lisa Dixon, M.D., M.P.H. In addition, NAMI blogged about RAISE findings and related resources it is developing to educate the public
about FEP and coordinated specialty care.
 SAMHSA’s September 2016 Knowledge Network for Systems of Care TV (KSOC-TV) webcast explored ways to support youth and young adults who may be in the early phase of psychosis, or experiencing FEP. Behavioral health experts, including Dr. Dixon, discussed evidence-based strategies to address both the prodromal phase and FEP.
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A number of Partners highlighted FEP at their meetings, including presentations of RAISE findings at the NAMI Connecticut Annual Conference and Oregon's early psychosis program at the NAMI Oregon Annual Conference. In addition, NAMI North Carolina’s Annual Conference highlighted NIMH grantee Diana Perkins, M.D., M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina, who spoke about recognizing and treating early psychosis.
 NAMI Minnesota tweeted NIMH-funded research findings about the neurocognitive impairments for those at high-risk for psychosis.
Educating Policymakers
Outreach Partners are informing their communities about NIMH-funded clinical trials actively recruiting participants.
NAMI
Minnesota posted information on its website about an NIMH-funded schizophrenia study conducted at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center seeking family members.
The University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
shared information about NIMH intramural studies with regional human service centers throughout the state.
 NAMI Vermont used Facebook to share about an NIMH intramural study on behavior and the brain.
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Partners are educating their communities about the importance of research and the research process.
 The Massachusetts Association for Mental Health used Facebook to inform its community about the new NIH infographic, which describes the different types of clinical studies.
MHA of Southeastern Pennsylvania regularly speaks to the importance of research and available studies at its Voices of Recovery support and advocacy group meetings.
Partners provide opportunities for NIMH scientists and grantees to present their findings at local meetings and conferences.
MHA
of Southeast Florida organized a training for behavioral health professionals
featuring NIMH grantee William Pelham, Ph.D. of Florida International University who presented
his research on ADHD.
NAMI Maryland’s recent annual conference featured NIMH intramural researcher, Argyris Stringaris, M.D., Ph.D. who presented research updates about depression in young people.
 In addition, NAMI Utah provided an update about new research, initiatives, and resources from NIMH to its conference participants.
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The American Psychological Association blogged
about a new theory proposed by Daniel Pine, M.D., a clinical researcher in the NIMH Emotion and Development Branch, and NIMH grantee, Joseph LeDoux, Ph.D. at New York University which could lead to improved treatments for anxiety disorders.
The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation blogged about breakthrough research on fast-acting medications for treatment-resistant depression conducted by NIMH investigator, Carlos Zarate, M.D.
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