GREETINGS
Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D.,
NIMH Director
Each year, the lives of tens of thousands of teens and young adults are interrupted by an episode of psychosis. Symptoms of psychosis include delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear). It’s typical for a young person to have subtle signs of psychosis for some time before experiencing an episode of psychosis when their symptoms intensify and begin to interfere with many aspects of their lives. Their relationships with family and friends often become strained, and it may be challenging for them to work or go to school.
Understandably, experiencing first episode psychosis can be confusing and scary for young people and their families. The sooner a young person gets treatment after the first episode of psychosis, the better their outcomes likely will be.
Over the past decade, NIMH has undertaken a number of efforts to study approaches to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis and to learn whether early, coordinated delivery of specialized treatments leads to better outcomes than care typically available in community settings. The cornerstone of those efforts is the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) research initiative, which included two studies examining different aspects of coordinated specialty care for individuals who experienced first episode psychosis. Across both studies, individuals who received coordinated specialty care stayed in treatment longer, and experienced greater improvement in their symptoms, interpersonal relationships, quality of life, and involvement in work and school compared with patients who received typical care. More recently, new RAISE findings showed that coordinated specialty care resulted in more optimal prescribing of antipsychotics and fewer side effects compared to usual care.
Since the start of the RAISE studies, hundreds of early intervention programs that use coordinated specialty care have been implemented and now operate in 49 states. As the number of early intervention programs expands, it is essential that we learn about the outcomes of delivering these services in real-world community settings. To help answer this question, NIMH is launching the Early Psychosis Intervention Network: Practice-Based Research to Improve Treatment Outcomes (EPINET) to build a “learning healthcare system” among clinical programs offering specialty care to individuals experiencing early psychosis. The participating sites will use standard clinical measures and uniform data collection and analysis methods to drive continuous improvements in patient care and accelerate real-world research into psychosis risk factors, diagnosis, service delivery, health outcomes, and more.
As EPINET progresses, I look forward to sharing more with the community about NIMH’s continued research efforts and advances toward ensuring that young people affected by early psychosis get the evidence-based care they need.
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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Outreach Partners are disseminating NIMH materials and research findings throughout their states.
Through its Community Collaborative, a student-run, staff/faculty-supervised supportive services initiative, the Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy at Arizona State University disseminates NIMH publications to seniors and individuals with disabilities who reside at the Westward Ho low-income housing facility in which the Collaborative is located.
The Institute of Rural Health at Idaho State University disseminates NIMH publications at brain injury support group meetings and traumatic brain injury screening events.
Mental Health America of Illinois partnered with a suicide prevention organization for the opening of their Sip of Hope
Coffee Bar which donates 100 percent of its proceeds to support suicide prevention and mental health education and is staffed by baristas trained in Mental Health First Aid. NIMH publications and fact sheets were distributed at the opening event.
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NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania (PA) created a social media graphic to promote its role as the NIMH Outreach Partner for the state and share NIMH science news. The graphic allows a visually engaging way to share NIMH information on social media platforms. NAMI Keystone PA also has been using the Twitter hashtag "#Instituesday” as a way for people to easily follow its tweets of NIMH science news.
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Thank you to all of the partners that promoted the new Discover NIMH video series, and shared NIMH resources during Autism Awareness Month and National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
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Outreach Partners are adapting NIMH information for materials they create for their community education efforts.
NAMI Minnesota advised on and participated in the premiere of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Mental Health: Mind Matters traveling exhibit, which aims to educate the public about mental illnesses. NIMH data are included on the museum webpage and informed the development of the exhibit.
Partners are bringing information from the Program’s Annual Meeting back to their communities.
Mental Health America of Montana (MHA MT) presented research about the Links to Learning service model, which has been shown to increase mental health service use when implemented in low-resource school settings, at state legislative committee hearings. The data shared by MHA MT came from the 2018 OPP annual meeting presentation by NIMH grantee Marc Atkins, Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) programs for FEP are gaining momentum around the country. Thanks to the efforts of NIMH Outreach and National Partners, communities continue to learn about FEP programs and NIMH Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) findings.
Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) provided the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Behavioral Health Advisory Group with NIMH research findings to document the need to fund FEP evidence-based practices. MAMH also discussed FEP research with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Deputy Commissioner.
NAMI New Hampshire promoted New Hampshire FEP programs at the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center FEP conference.
NAMI Texas advocated for an increase in early psychosis programs in Texas and promoted RAISE and CSC through interviews and letters to the editors with news media across the state.
Outreach Partners are using NIMH materials and research in their efforts to address the needs of populations that experience mental health disparities.
Southern California Outreach Partner Special Service for Groups posted on Facebook to promote NIMH’s webinar, Using Simulation to Evaluate Social Determinants of Health in People with Mental Illness: Potential Use of Findings in Discussions with Policymakers, Community Groups, Consumers, and Advocates.
NAMI Connecticut disseminated NIMH information and publications during a training on African Americans and mental health with Resident Service Coordinators who manage public housing sites.
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The Mental Health Association in Delaware distributed NIMH publications at its Military and Veterans Mental Health Summit.
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Outreach Partners are spreading the word in their communities about NIMH-funded clinical trials actively recruiting participants.
NAMI Maryland disseminated study information from the NIMH Intramural Research Program (IRP) at its annual conference, NAMIWalk, and trainings around Maryland.
NAMI North Carolina added a featured image to its website homepage highlighting its partnership with NIMH and providing information about how to find studies in North Carolina.
The Federation of Families of South Carolina distributed a promotional flyer about the NIMH IRP teen depression study to 30 newspapers across the state. A flyer with tear offs about the study was placed in office buildings, doctors’ offices, beauty salons, and barber shops.
Partners are educating their communities about the importance of research and the research process.
Mental Health America of Georgia tweeted about the NIMH IRP Depression, TMS, Psychotherapy and Brain Function study and posted the YouTube video archive of the NIMH webinar about the study with NIMH IRP researcher Bruce Luber, Ph.D.
NAMI Ohio promoted NIMH’s Clinical Research Trials and You fact sheet on Facebook.
NAMI Utah gave a presentation titled, What's New in Your Brain in 2018? at its annual state conference to share NIMH research updates with attendees. NIMH IRP study flyers and other NIMH clinical trials materials were included in the conference packets and at the information table.
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Partners are providing opportunities for NIMH scientists and grantees to take their research to the community.
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