PRINCIPAL RESEARCH CORE
Through close interactions with community
stakeholders, the Principal Reserch Core will develop and
conduct research on innovative interventions and services
for middle-aged and older people with schizophrenia and
other psychotic disorders in the community. The ultimate
goal is to improve the quality of life of these individuals.
The aim of the Principal Research Core is
to generate and support research that will enhance and
expand the Center’s capacity to move mental health
interventions and services for middle-aged and older people
with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders into
community settings. The work builds upon previous studies
and an assessment of unmet needs of the various
stakeholders.
The main objectives are to develop or
adapt and test interventions that are effective as well as
practical, and to identify approaches to dissemination and
implementation of such interventions in the community.
We will use different intervention
approaches (preventive, treatment, and rehabilitative), with
the focus being on the following themes:
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Optimizing pharmacotherapy
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Enhancing recovery and self-efficacy
through psychosocial interventions
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Developing and adapting assessments
and interventions for underserved subgroups
A critical component of this Core will be
interactive, bi-directional communication with community
stakeholders including consumers, caregivers, and care
providers throughout the development and execution of
research projects.
In this application, three
exemplar Developmental Research Projects, and five Pilot
Projects. These projects were selected and refined through
the community partnership, and will be accomplished through
close interactions among all the four Center Cores, building
sustainable multidisciplinary teams of investigators and
community partners.
These Research Projects include:
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Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)
Method Development
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Saludable (A healthy lifestyle intervention for older
Latinos)
-
Managing Medical Side Effects of
Antipsychotics in a Community Mental Health Center.
Pilot
Projects are single-year projects with budgets of $ 5,000 to
$ 10,000 each, and led either by investigators with
relatively little research experience or by community
partners, who are paired with appropriate faculty
investigators. Examples of Pilot Projects include studies of
a peer support intervention, web-based training for shared
decision making, an intervention for suicidality, a
qualitative study of remission or successful aging in people
with schizophrenia, and an intervention to improve the
informed consent process in monolingual Spanish-speaking
Latinos.
There is a process for regular evaluation of the
progress of the projects by the Partners’ Council as well as
by external reviewers, with a “sunset policy” in place.
Other Cores:
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