Engaging persons with psychiatric and substance use disorders in a community-based participatory research initiative: The Boston Community Academic Mental Health Partnership

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

3109.0: Monday, November 05, 2007 - 10:30 AM

Abstract #153028

Melissa Hagan, MPH¹, Alisa K. Lincoln, PhD, MPH¹, Jonathan Delman, MPH, JD², Nicki Glasser³, Patricia Kenny, APRN, BC⁴, Carol Mattina⁵, Sara A. Plachta-Elliott, MA⁶, Sheena Raji, BS³, and John Sharp, PhD⁷. (1) Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T2W, Boston, MA 02118, 617-414-1378, mjhagan@bu.edu, (2) Consumer Quality Initiatives, Inc., 98 Magazine Street, Roxbury, MA 02119, (3) The Transformation Center, 98 Magazine Street, Roxbury, MA 02119, (4) Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, 85 East Newton Street, Boston, MA 02118, (5) Parent/Professional Advocacy League, 59 Temple Place, Suite 664, Boston, MA 02111, (6) Consumer Quality Initatives, 132 Kemble St., Roxbury, MA 02119, (7) Massachusetts Chapter, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, 400 West Cummings Park, Suite 6650, Woburn, MA 01801

Mental health services research has often failed to capitalize on the benefits of consumer/community involvement in research. This has contributed to service gaps, barriers to service utilization, and delayed translation of research into practice. Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) can act as an invaluable tool for conducting mental health research that is relevant and meaningful while also improving consumer quality of life and service satisfaction. While CBPR approaches are increasingly being used in the field of public health to address health disparities among marginalized populations, few of these efforts have involved persons with serious mental illness (and even fewer of these have been conducted in the U.S.).

Designed to bring together mental health consumers, academic and other mental health community stakeholders, the Boston Community Academic Mental Health Partnership (B-CAMHP) was established in 2006 to provide a mechanism for persons with mental health and/or addiction recovery needs (MHARN) to fully participate in the design and conduct of mental health research. One of the first of its kind in the United States, the B-CAMHP was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to further develop the partnership and to conduct a pilot study of consumer perspectives of psychiatric emergency care. This presentation will discuss the successes and challenges of the B-CAMHP, review the preliminary findings of the Partnership's pilot study on psychiatric emergency services, and explore future directions for the use of CBPR in improving services for people with mental health and/or addiction recovery needs.

Learning Objectives:

Understand importance of involving persons with mental health and/or addiction recovery needs in the design and conduct of mental health research
Identify examples of community-based participatory research efforts involving persons with serious mental illness and/or substance use disorders
Describe a pilot study using CBPR methods to examine the perspectives of persons using psychiatric emergency services

Keywords: Mental Health, Community-Based Partnership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Working with the Experts: Essential Partners and Avenues for Action

The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA