EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICES
Academic Partnerships
Throughout the DBH/MRS, there are activities occurring which involve academic partnerships. These partnerships serve to reduce the "science to services gap" by making effective treatments available more quickly. Below is a brief description of each of our current academic partnerships.
Staff at the Collaborative on Community Integration provide training on community integration (a key component of the recovery system transformation) through the Behavioral Health Training and Education Network (BHTEN), participate on the DBH/MRS Recovery Advisory Committee, and provide educational materials and other consultative services to the DBH/MRS. The Collaborative is located at the University of Pennsylvania and is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research with the mission of conducting state-of-the-art community integration research. The research is used in training efforts with persons in recovery, providers, administrators, and other stakeholders to ensure that people with psychiatric disabilities live in the community and are part of the community.
- DBH/MRS Contact Person:
- Ellen Faynberg
- Telephone: 215-685-5400
The CMHPSR (previously the Section on Public Psychiatry) provides consultative services to the DBH/MRS on a variety of projects. The Center consists of a group of multidisciplinary faculty and staff interested in the public behavioral health care system. The goal of the Center is: "To improve the quality and performance of behavioral health for public sector clients through research, evaluation, and education." The CMHPSR researches the organization, financing, and management structure of mental health care systems and the delivery of mental health services and provides consultation and technical support to those individuals and programs involved in implementing system change. The Center uses the results of its research and evaluation efforts to inform the decision making of public policy makers at local, state, and national levels.
Behavioral Healthcare Education (BHE) of the Drexel University College of Medicine
BHE co-sponsors conferences with the DBH/MRS, such as "Transforming Day Services and Supports: Building Recovery/Transforming Lives" (also co-sponsored with the DBH/MRS Behavioral Health Education and Traning Network-BHTEN) and "Recovery-Based Psychiatry: Learning Together." Funded by the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, BHE's purpose is to turn clinical knowledge from biological and programmatic research into information and skills that are directly useful to practitioners in the behavioral health fields. Services are particularly targeted to those working with persons in all aspects of behavioral healthcare including psychiatric recovery, co-occurring mental health & substance use disorders, case management, psychiatric rehabilitation, co-occurring intellectual disability and mental illness as well as adult, child and adolescent assessment and treatment. BHE delivers interdisciplinary accredited continuing education, consultation, technical assistance and regional and national conferences based on evidence-based and promising practices, research findings and program and policy advances.
- DBH/MRS Contact Person:
- Michelle Khan
- Telephone: 215-685-5400
The PRIME Institute of Behavioral Healthcare Education at Drexel University College of Medicine
The DBH/MRS is collaborating with the PRIME Institute (Partners Reaching to Improve Multicultural Effectiveness) to assist selected behavioral health agencies in the Philadelphia area to develop a culturally competent workforce in concert with the recovery oriented system transformation initiative and to reduce disparities in services for un-served and under-served populations. PRIME Institute faculty are facilitating training for a group of provider agencies in the PRIME Model for a period of nine months in conjunction with on-site technical assistance for program development.
The PRIME Institute (Partners Reaching to Improve Multicultural Effectiveness) is an intensive, highly experiential training program geared to transform personal/professional cultural attitudes while at the same time increasing basic knowledge and enhancing skills directly transferable to working with individuals from different cultures with serious mental illnesses, emotional disturbances and/or co-occurring disorders. It originated at Temple University over 12 years ago. In addition to Pennsylvania, the PRIME Institute has worked in Ohio, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The PRIME Institute was awarded a three year SAMHSA Workforce Training Grant to Reduce Racial and Cultural Disparities. The curriculum model and content has been evaluated by partners at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University College of Medicine/BHE, documenting the "promise" of significant transfer of effective cross-cultural skills and the transformation of participants' knowledge and attitudes beyond the clinical/service setting.
- DBH/MRS Contact Person:
- Nikena Warner
- Telephone: 215-685-5400
The DBH/MRS is collaborating with Aaron T. Beck, MD and colleagues to implement pilot programs in which cognitive therapy will be applied as a therapeutic tool. The pilots are targeted for specific populations at specific agencies. Founded by Aaron T. Beck, the Psychopathology Research Unit (PRU), located in the psychiatry department of the University of Pennsylvania, focuses upon the basic science and efficacy of cognitive therapy. A signature emphasis of the unit is cognitive-theoretic psychopathology research and clinical outcome studies focused upon ameliorating symptoms and improving the quality of life in persons with schizophrenia. The PRU is the parent organization of the Center for the Treatment and Prevention of Suicide (CTPS), which was founded to develop empirically supported therapies for the prevention of suicide attempts in high risk populations. Current research is focused on the effectiveness of cognitive therapy interventions administered in community settings.
- DBH/MRS Contact Person:
- Bryce McLaulin, MD
- Telephone: 215-413-7100
Web Site links to the Center:
http://www.med.upenn.edu/suicide
http://mail.med.upenn.edu/~abeck/
Center for Studies of Addiction/Treatment Research Center (TRC)
at the University of Pennsylvania and the
Treatment Research Institute (TRI)
The DBH/MRS has been collaborating with TRC and TRI to enhance the delivery of scientifically based treatments to persons in treatment for drug abuse since 1999. The partnership was formed through participation in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). This major initiative is funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). It is designed to facilitate promising research to actual practice to community-based settings. Studies of behavioral, pharmacological, and integrated behavioral and pharmacological treatment interventions in multi-site clinical trials are typically conducted to determine effectiveness across a broad range of community-based treatment settings and diversified client/consumer populations. The results are gathered by a principal investigator for each study for ultimate dissemination of the findings to the field. Philadelphia (Delaware Valley), is one of 17 sites across the country.
The Center for Studies of Addiction/Treatment Research Center (TRC) is an outpatient addiction treatment and research facility. The TRC aims to better understand the genetic, behavioral, and environmental causes of addiction. Investigators evaluate the effectiveness of new approaches to treating addictions namely, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and opiate dependence.
The Treatment Research Institute (TRI) is a not-for-profit research and development organization dedicated to reducing the devastating effects of alcohol and other drug abuse on individuals, families and communities by employing scientific methods and disseminating evidence-based information.
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DBH/MRS Contact Person:
- Frank Gould
- Telephone: 215-685-5403
Web Site link to TRC: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/trc/
Web Site link to TRI: http://www.tresearch.org/
The Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, Yale Department of Psychiatry
The Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health provides consultative services and training to the Philadelphia Behavioral Health system in the areas of recovery system assessment, recovery training, and the development of educational materials. Specifically, the Program collaborated with DBH/MRS staff in implementing an county-wide baseline assessment of stakeholders' perceptions of the level of recovery-orientation currently in the Philadelphia behavioral health system. The findings drove the development of the blueprint for the Philadelphia Recovery Transformation Initiative. Staff at the program also co-authored "An Integrated Model of Recovery-Oriented Behavioral Healthcare," a white paper written for Philadelphia DBH/MRS stakeholders. Staff at the program are providing training for the Recovery Transformation, available to all stakeholders, including "Recovery Foundations Training," and "Train the Trainer" series.
The Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health works alongside people affected by urban poverty and homelessness in addition to psychiatric and substance use disorders in promoting their recovery and enhancing their access to meaningful roles within the community. Through the development of mutually beneficial partnerships with local, state, and federal governmental agencies, the program aims to foster the inclusion and political presence of people who historically have lived on the margins of society. Current activities include intervention and service system development and evaluation; public policy development and analysis; and education, training, and research addressing the interface of behavioral health and membership in society.
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DBH/MRS Contact Person(s):
- Ijeoma Achara-Abrahams, PsyD
- Telephone: 215-685-5403
- Michelle Khan
- Telephone: 215-685-5400
