Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Conduct a Collaborative Needs Assessment of Mental Health Service Users: Identifying Research Questions and Building Academic-Community Trust.

Attempts to meaningfully engage people with serious mental illnesses (SMI) as allies in conducting research have often failed because researchers tend to decide on the research topic without including community members. Academic researchers can avoid this pitfall by collaborating with community members to conduct a needs assessment to identify relevant research topics and build trust. Here, we report on the results of a psychosocial needs assessment for adult mental health service users in Massachusetts conducted by an academic-peer research team.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on peer specialists.

Objective: Individuals with mental health challenges are at particularly high risk of experiencing negative outcomes (e.g., worsening of mental health, increased risk of mortality) due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The relationship between conventional clinical assessments and momentary assessments of symptoms and functioning in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review.

Background: Symptoms and functioning are critical dimensions in those with schizophrenia and are typically measured using validated conventional clinical assessments. Researchers and clinicians have begun to use real-time digital methods, such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA), to assess symptoms and functioning in the moment and outside of traditional hospital and laboratory settings, which may yield more naturalistic data. Although digital methods have advantages, it is unclear whether these momentary assessments capture core aspects of symptoms and functioning.

Developing a Sound Body: Open Trial Results of a Group Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for Young Adults with Psychosis.

The mortality disparity for persons with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) due to cardiovascular disease is a devastating problem. Many risk factors are present in young adults with psychosis that may be ameliorated with lifestyle interventions. Sixteen participants with SSDs enrolled in an 11-week open trial of a novel lifestyle intervention comprised of group high intensity interval training exercise and health and wellness education.