RSS 1.0Psychiatry Information in Brief
ABOUT THIS COLLECTION
Psychiatry Information in Brief (PIB) is a website devoted to the dissemination of behavioral health information. This site is a repository of products and publications that translate behavioral health research findings into concise, user-friendly information that is accessible to providers/clinicians, consumers, families, advocacy groups and researchers. PIB is produced by the Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC) in the Department of Psychiatry at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, MA, USA. Read more about Psychiatry Information in Brief
QUESTIONS?
Contact Dee Logan, UMass Chan Psychiatry - Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center, Deirdre.Logan@umassmed.edu with your questions.
Recently Published
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What is Community Participation?The Center for Community Inclusion and Reflective Collaboration (the CIRC Center) is a research and training center that aims to significantly advance community participation outcomes among young adults (14–26) with serious mental health conditions from populations that have been marginalized or minoritized. The term community participation is used in mental health services and research to refer to community-based activities that promote overall health and wellness. However, many people find this concept to be confusing, vague, and hard to understand. This tip sheet will define “community participation,” describe relevant experiences of young adults (ages 14–26) with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) from populations that have been marginalized, and provide reflections from our various advisory boards of young adults, family members, and professionals in the field.
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Demystifying Civic Engagement: How to Make Your Voice Heard (Beyond Voting!) & 5 Tips to Get StartedThe term “civic engagement” is less intimidating than it sounds! Civic engagement describes the process taken by individuals or groups to identify and address issues of concern within their communities. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual events such as working the polls, to longer-term, sustained efforts such as joining an advocacy group and educating others around issues that matter to you. This tip sheet outlines 5 ways to get involved in civic engagement that are in addition to voting OR that can be done before you’re old enough to vote.
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Youth Reoffending: Prevalence and Predictive Risk Factors in Two StatesThe Youth Protective Factors Study is an unprecedented multistate, multiyear examination of which risk and protective factors matter most when it comes to reoffending—particularly for more serious offenses that involve physical harm to another person (person offenses)—for youth ages 10 to 23 in the juvenile justice system. This brief is the first in a series that shares key findings to guide jurisdictions on research-based juvenile justice supervision, case planning, and service strategies to improve public safety and youth outcomes. These findings are especially pertinent during a time of rising concerns about youth crime, violence, and victimization. This brief is based on analysis of over 32,000 youth who had a new delinquency or status offense complaint over 3 years (2015–2017) in 2 states and received a risk assessment from the probation department. Most of the youth ended up on some form of supervision. Supervision could have included involvement in a diversion program, informal supervision, probation, a secure placement, or any combination of the above, and incorporates the time from their risk assessment until their case was closed (including any supervision extensions). Researchers obtained the records of all new juvenile court petitions and adult charges for these youth during supervision and for an average 2.5-year post-supervision follow-up period. The study analyzed recidivism during and after supervision, including for person offenses (offenses ranging from simple assault to robbery and homicide), and identified which risk factors were most associated with reoffending for youth overall and of different ages.
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Demographics and Employment Outcomes: Selected Findings from NIDILRR-funded Disability Employment Research in the 21st CenturyA systematic scoping review of research published between 2000 and 2020 on employment of people with disabilities, that was funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) was conducted by CeKTER researchers. All papers comparing people with disabilities to those without have been excluded from the systematic scoping review. Among over 100 publications reviewed there was a wide and very disparate array of findings with numerous variables used and varying research questions. This result belies summative findings. There are numerous ways of organizing the disparate findings. This brief is the first in a series of findings from the systematic scoping review. In this brief we report on findings categorized by the demographic characteristics of education, gender, marital status, race, and age. Please note that all comparisons are always about corresponding peers with disabilities.
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Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence as a Predictor of Young Adult Employment Quality: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult HealthThis study uses longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents, The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, to investigate the association between depressive symptomatology in adolescence and indicators of employment quality in young adulthood. A better understanding of the long-term impacts of adolescent depressive symptoms on employment quality during young adulthood would inform our understanding of how economic and mental health trajectories of individuals with a history of depression unfold.
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Building a Community of Practice to Improve Dissemination of Disability ResearchA Community of Practice brings together groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis. In 2022, the Center on Knowledge Translation for Employment Research (CeKTER) developed of a Community of Practice on "S.M.A.R.T. Social Media for Employment Research Dissemination,” This CoP was developed to respond to NIDILRR disability research grantees who have a collective desire to enhance their social media effectiveness. This CoP continues as of April 2024. Using our experience with the "S.M.A.R.T. Social Media for Employment Research Dissemination" CoP this tip sheet offers others guidance on how to develop and sustain a successful CoP.
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Adulting Shorts: Let’s Talk About Workplace AccommodationsWork can be hard! If you have a mental health condition, you might need to ask for an accommodation at work. An accommodation is a change to the way your job is done to allow you to do your job well when you have a disability. This comic by the NIDILRR-funded Learning & Working RRTC shares some real-world experiences young adults with lived experience of mental health conditions when working. For more information about requesting accommodations at work, please read our Accommodations at Work tip sheet.
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The Intersection Between Food Insecurity, Tobacco Use, and Upstream Factors: Where Can We Go From Here?Food insecurity and tobacco use are major public health issues in the U.S. with serious implications for population health and wellbeing. Food insecurity – or insufficient access to the amount of affordable, nutritious foods needed to live an active and healthy lifestyle – affects approximately 42.4 million people in the U.S. and can lead to poor health outcomes such as heart disease and diabetes. Despite a decline in rates in recent decades, tobacco use, especially cigarette smoking, remains a leading cause of death and preventable diseases in the U.S. Though they may seem unrelated, research suggests that these phenomena are intertwined 3, 4 and may be addressed more equitably and effectively if targeted together rather than separately. This report discusses the relationship between food insecurity and tobacco use including who they impact, how they impact health, and how upstream factors like transportation and housing can exacerbate their consequences. It then provides considerations for addressing these health concerns including: Bringing culturally relevant food and nutrition programs to people where they live in the community, Removing transportation barriers to address structural inequities, Addressing low socioeconomic position (SEP) to reduce food insecurity, Focusing on cultural sensitivity and the needs of diverse populations, and Providing access to tobacco cessation and healthcare. We use Worcester, Massachusetts as a case example to demonstrate what is possible and suggest strategies that policymakers and other stakeholders can implement to address upstream factors associated with food insecurity and tobacco use.
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Charting the Course to Meaningful Community-Academic Research Partnerships: A roadmap and tools to advance heath equity through community partnership on Patient Centered Outcomes Research /Comparative Effectiveness Research (PCOR/CER) StudiesRecent calls to advance pathways towards health equity highlight the need for greater investment in multi-sectoral and community partnerships. Efforts to advance health equity research require meaningful participation of individuals and communities underrepresented in research partnerships. Meaningful participation provides a foundation critical for creating and sustaining the structural changes required to advance health equity. Accordingly, this Roadmap provides an overview of tools that aim to promote the meaningful engagement of individuals underrepresented in research partnerships.
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Accommodations at Work: What Do I Need to Know?Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities have a right to accommodations if their condition gets in the way of doing what’s called “the essential functions of a job.” Disabilities can include a mental health condition. If you have a disability, accommodations may help you perform the essential functions of the job. You still must do those basic tasks, but “how” you do them may be different with the help of an accommodation. This tip sheet explains what accommodations are, who they apply to and provides examples of workplace accommodations that could be helpful for young adults, and others, with serious mental health conditions.
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Adulting Shorts: The "TEA" on IEPs Part 4This info-comic is for high school students to help them understand what an Individualized Educational Plan or IEP is, what transition planning is, and the importance of the student being involved in them. Part 4 focuses on Mateo leading his IEP meeting. Parts 1 through 3 can be found on our website: https://www.umassmed.edu/TransitionsACR/publication/comic/
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Adulting Shorts: Passport to Adulting - Managing Your PaperworkThis info-comic is for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions with tips about keeping and protecting important personal records and information. A tip sheet of this publication is also available for download https://doi.org/10.7191/pib.1062
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Resources for Addressing Food Insecurity and Other Social Determinants of Health in Worcester, MassachusettsSocial determinants of health (SDOH) are the environmental, social, and economic factors that can impact people’s quality of life and health. Examples of SDOH are where people live, the environment they live in, their employment and/or education, their socioeconomic status, and access to resources and basic needs such as food. Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to enough affordable and nutritional food for every person in a household to live an active and healthy life. Food insecurity is a pressing issue in many areas including Central Massachusetts. Many communities and populations have experienced food insecurity, and these groups were especially affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenges with food insecurity have also adversely affected people of color. This tip sheet is a list of resources available in the Worcester community to help families and community partners navigate local and state resources to address food insecurity and other social determinants of health.
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Applying for a Job: The Young Adults Guide, Revised 2023 [English and Spanish versions]This is a tip sheet for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions about finding, applying for, and interviewing for jobs. This tip sheet was originally published in 2011. It has been updated for 2023.
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Factors that Influence the Continuous Pursuit of Education, Training, and Employment among Young Adults with Serious Mental Health ConditionsYoung adults (ages 18–30) with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) often face challenges in their education, training, and employment pursuits. The study presented in this brief study describes young adult patterns of education, training, and employment activities for individuals with SMHC in the United States and identifies modifiable factors that hinder or facilitate their ability to consistently pursue these activities. Based on first-person narratives from young adults (ages 25–30) with SMHC, these findings should inform psychiatric rehabilitation efforts that support the school, training, and work activities of young adults with SMHC to improve their long-term career trajectories. To learn more about this research project and find additional materials please visit our website: https://www.umassmed.edu/TransitionsACR/research/projects-by-grant/rtc/careerdevSMHC/
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My “Must Have” Papers [English and Spanish versions]2023-03-10Tip sheet for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions with tips about keeping and protecting important personal records and information. A Spanish translation of this publication is available for download. Originally published as a: Transitions RTC Northeast Massachusetts Community of Practice Tip Sheet, 2011.
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Why and How Electronic Job Coaches Improve Employment for People with DisabilitiesEven though the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act strengthens federal and state commitments to employing people with disabilities, there remain millions of Americans with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) who are still unemployed. To succeed in competitive employment, workers with ID require help with memory, task sequence and planning, and time management; skills that are often referred to as executive functioning. Typically, employers do not have the training to manage people with ID with these challenges. This task falls to job coaches, job developers or employment specialists (e.g., providers) and the agencies that provide such services. Without effective and efficient tools to support the executive functioning of individuals with ID, policies that aim to affect their competitive integrated employment can result in an unmanageable burden on the provider. Today’s jobs are more complex. Providers need tools that can help them effectively and efficiently build, record and adjust prompts and instructions as changes occur in real-time. However, they may not have the time and/or the skills required to make clear, accurate instructional prompts for multiple workers with ID in different settings. To identify the needs of employers, providers, and workers with ID, a NIDILRR-funded project collected data from supervisors, employers and providers of employment services to workers with ID. These interviews were used to determine the requirements of an ideal system that would help them better instruct, coach, track progress and manage teams of employees with ID. This brief describes their findings and development of a cloud-based interactive electronic job coaching app that allows emplyment services providers to efficiently convert work assignments into the essential details required by the mobile worker with ID, and then wirelessly transfer the appropriate instructions to the worker’s electronic coach.
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Adulting Shorts: The "TEA" on IEPs Part 3This info-comic is for high school students to help them understand what an Individualized Educational Plan or IEP is, what transition planning is, and the importance of the student being involved in them. Part 3 focuses on Mateo creating a career goal and steps to reach it. Parts 1 and 2 can be found on our website: https://www.umassmed.edu/TransitionsACR/publication/comic/
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3 Tips to Improve Communication with Your Youth & Young AdultsThis tip sheet provides parents and allies of youth and young adults with lived experience of a mental health condition tips be able to improve their connection with them. This tip sheet was developed as a collaboration between the family member and young adult advisory boards that work with the Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research. The tips are based on advisory board members’ real experiences.
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Lost in Transition: The Journey from Pediatric to Adult Care for Youth with Mental Health ConditionsNearly one out of three (30.6%) young adults (18–25 years) experience mental illness (NIMH). In the United States suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people. Transition age youth (16–25 years) with mental health conditions such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and psychotic disorders, experience substantial adversity during the shift from pediatric to adult health care. Research by our team has shown that youth with mental health conditions utilize less outpatient care as they emerge into adulthood. These results echo the American Psychiatric Association position statement that transition age youth are “underserved in current mental health systems”. Understanding provider perspectives to caring for this unique patient population may help to increase health care utilization and quality of care for transition age youth with mental health conditions. This product offers providers real-world tips on what they can do to help and advocate for based on our work.
