Meaningful goal setting: Practitioners' perspectives on goal setting in the illness management and recovery program.

Objective: The aim of our study was to gain insight into how practitioners in mental health care support people with severe psychiatric disabilities in setting and pursuing personal goals that are meaningful to them.

Method: We conducted focus groups with 36 mental health practitioners in Norway and interpreted the data by using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Four themes emerged from the analysis: (a) active collaboration to understand what is meaningful to the individual, (b) being nonjudgmental during the process of goal setting, (c) helping individuals break goals into smaller goals and steps, and (d) allowing time for the process of trying to achieve goals.

Psychoeducation for individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: A scoping review.

Psychoeducation is recommended in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia and has been shown to improve satisfaction with mental health service and treatment adherence, reduce relapse and hospital readmission rates, and enhance functioning and quality of life. Youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) may also benefit from receiving psychoeducation as part of their treatment. The goal of this study was to conduct a scoping review to map out the existing literature on psychoeducation for CHR individuals, including content, utilization, and benefits, in order to identify areas for future research and clinical care.

"Everything Changed, Would You Like Me to Elaborate?": A Qualitative Examination of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Community Participation Among Young Adults with Early Psychosis and Their Families.

OnTrackNY provides early intervention services to young people with early psychosis throughout New York State. This report describes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community participation of OnTrackNY program participants and their families. Thirteen participants and nine family members participated in five focus groups and three individual semi-structured interviews.

Job Retention and Reintegration in People with Mental Health Problems: A Descriptive Evaluation of Supported Employment Routine Programs.

Purpose: Striking evidence supports the effectiveness of supported employment (SE) in achieving competitive employment in individuals with mental health problems. Yet, little is known whether SE is effective to maintain employment in individuals at risk of job loss. We aimed to descriptively compare SE for employed clients (SE-retention) and unemployed clients (SE-integration) regarding competitive employment.

Peer Academic Supports for Success (PASS) for College Students with Mental Illness: Open Trial.

Increasing numbers of college students have serious mental health conditions, but their dropout rates are high and debt accrual is common. A well-specified intervention that colleges can directly offer their undergraduates with serious mental health conditions that sustains their academic persistence is greatly needed. The Peer Academic Supports for Success (PASS) coaching model was developed to address this need.

Pilot development and feasibility of telehealth Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) for early psychosis and substance use.

Substance use is associated with poor outcomes for individuals with early psychosis. Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is an evidence-based approach that helps families to reduce substance use, engage in treatment, and improve family wellbeing, but it has not yet been studied for psychosis and substance use. The present study aimed to develop and evaluate a telehealth intervention utilizing CRAFT for families experiencing early psychosis and substance use.

Efficacy and acceptability of psychosocial interventions in schizophrenia: systematic overview and quality appraisal of the meta-analytic evidence.

Psychosocial interventions are recommended in schizophrenia and first-episode psychosis/early psychosis (EP). Nevertheless, literature is heterogeneous and often contradictory. We conducted an umbrella review of (network) meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing psychosocial interventions vs treatment as usual (TAU)/active interventions(ACTIVE)/MIXED controls.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of Early Intervention Services On Insight in First Episode Psychosis.

Background And Hypothesis: Impaired insight into one's illness is common in first episode psychosis (FEP), is associated with worse symptoms and functioning, and predicts a worse course of illness. Despite its importance, little research has examined the effects of early intervention services (EIS) on insight.

Designs: This paper evaluated the impact of EIS (NAVIGATE) on insight compared to usual community care (CC) in a large cluster randomized controlled trial.

Clinical and psychosocial outcomes of Black Americans in the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode Early Treatment Program (RAISE-ETP) study.

Purpose: In the US, Black people diagnosed with schizophrenia experience worse psychosocial and clinical outcomes than their White counterparts. While racism-related factors contribute to these disparities, an additional understudied explanation may be that psychosocial treatments for psychotic disorders are less effective for Black than White individuals. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which best treatment practices for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are effective for Black and White participants.

Effect of a physical activity intervention on lower body bone health in childhood cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial (SURfit).

It remains controversial whether physical activity promotes bone health in childhood cancer survivors (CCS). We aimed to assess the effect of a one-year general exercise intervention on lower body bone parameters of CCS. CCS ≥16 years at enrollment, <16 years at diagnosis and ≥5 years in remission were identified from the national Childhood Cancer Registry.

Relationship between patterns of cannabis use and functional and symptomatic trajectories in first-episode psychosis.

Cannabis use is common in first-episode psychosis (FEP) but evidence is mixed about the extent to which cannabis use predicts symptoms and functional outcomes among those who seek treatment. This study sought to characterize cannabis use patterns and examine the relationship with clinical outcomes, including interactions with early intervention services (EIS). Data were drawn from the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode-Early Treatment Program (RAISE-ETP) study including FEP individuals receiving treatment at sites randomized to provide either EIS (NAVIGATE) or community care (CC).

Peer Support Specialist Work and Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Longitudinal Study.

Objective: The study followed up with peer support specialists (PSSs) responding to an earlier survey to assess the pandemic's continued employment and personal effects.

Methods: A December 2020 online survey was conducted with respondents to a May 2020 survey. Items on employment status, work tasks, challenges, support, and benefits were included.

A mirror-image analysis of psychiatric hospitalisations among people with severe mental illness using Independent Supported Housing.

Background: Evidence on the effectiveness of Independent Supported Housing (ISH) for non-homeless people with severe mental illness primarily comes from observational cohort studies, which have high risk of bias due to confounding by time-invariant sample characteristics. The present study proposes an alternative study design known from pharmacology to overcome this bias and strengthen evidence.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective mirror-image analysis with medical records of 144 ISH service users to assess the effectiveness of ISH in reducing the number and duration of hospitalisations.

What are the economic dimensions of occupational health and how should they be measured? A qualitative study.

Background: Decision makers want to know if there is a financial benefit in investing scarce resources in occupational health management (OHM). Economic evaluations (EEs) of OHM-strategies try to answer this question. However, EEs of OHM-strategies which are strongly marked by quantitative methods may be limited by contextual, qualitative residuals.

Undocumented PTSD among African American clients with serious mental illness in a statewide mental health system.

Objectives: African Americans are at increased risk for trauma exposure and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relative to other racial groups. Among African Americans with Serious Mental Illness (SMI), PTSD is frequently underdiagnosed and untreated. The primary objective of this study was to investigate trauma exposure, PTSD symptom severity, and the rate of undocumented PTSD in medical records among African Americans diagnosed with SMI.

Mental health-related communication in a virtual community: text mining analysis of a digital exchange platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Background: Virtual communities played an important role in mental health and well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic by providing access to others and thereby preventing loneliness. The pandemic has accelerated the urge for digital solutions for people with pre-existing mental health problems. So far, it remains unclear how the people concerned communicate with each other and benefit from peer-to-peer support on a moderated digital platform.

Relationships among subclinical psychotic symptoms in young adults over time.

Background: Subclinical psychotic symptoms are common in the general population and are often benign. However, those that become distressing or persistent may increase risk for the development of a psychotic disorder. Cognitive models have proposed that certain appraisals of hallucinatory experiences can lead to delusional beliefs, particularly if an individual is experiencing negative mood.

Supporting young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities to deliver a peer mentoring intervention: Evaluating fidelity and resources required.

Background: Peer-delivered interventions are a best practice in mental health, yet no such intervention exists for young adults (YA) with intellectual/developmental disabilities with co-occurring mental health conditions. We evaluated YA with intellectual/developmental disabilities' ability to deliver a novel peer mentoring intervention with fidelity and the supports received.

Methods: We coded audio-recorded mentoring sessions to evaluate if 4 mentors adhered to 'content' (e.

"We don't get a chance to prove who we really are": A qualitative inquiry of workplace prejudice and discrimination among Black adults with serious mental illness.

Objective: Studies focused on prejudice and discrimination have traditionally explored the impact of one kind of prejudicial experience (e.g., race, gender, criminal history) within a particular context and thus, there is weak base of understanding about the experiences of individuals who may contend with concurrent prejudicial and/or discriminatory experiences across multiple characteristics.

Outcomes During and After Early Intervention Services for First-Episode Psychosis: Results Over 5 Years From the RAISE-ETP Site-Randomized Trial.

To examine long-term effects of early intervention services (EIS) for first-episode psychosis, we compared Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life (QLS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores and inpatient hospitalization days over 5 years with data from the site-randomized RAISE-ETP trial that compared the EIS NAVIGATE (17 sites; 223 participants) and community care (CC) (17 sites; 181 participants). Inclusion criteria were: age 15-40 years; DSM-IV diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, brief psychotic disorder, or psychotic disorder not otherwise specified; first psychotic episode; antipsychotic medication taken for ≤6 months. NAVIGATE-randomized participants could receive NAVIGATE from their study entry date until NAVIGATE ended when the last-enrolled NAVIGATE participant completed 2 years of treatment.

Relapse prevention through health technology program reduces hospitalization in schizophrenia.

Background: Psychiatric hospitalization is a major driver of cost in the treatment of schizophrenia. Here, we asked whether a technology-enhanced approach to relapse prevention could reduce days spent in a hospital after discharge.

Methods: The Improving Care and Reducing Cost (ICRC) study was a quasi-experimental clinical trial in outpatients with schizophrenia conducted between 26 February 2013 and 17 April 2015 at 10 different sites in the USA in an outpatient setting.

The relationship between cognitive functioning, age and employment in people with severe mental illnesses in an urban area in India: A longitudinal study.

Although there is substantial evidence of the association between cognitive impairment and work in people with severe mental illnesses (SMI) in developed countries, less is known about this relationship in developing countries such as India. Studies showing higher rates of employment in people with SMI in developing countries than developed ones raise the question of whether cognitive functioning is related to work status and characteristics of work (e.g.

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.

Post-viral mental health sequelae in infected persons associated with COVID-19 and previous epidemics and pandemics: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence estimates.

Aims: Post-viral mental health problems (MHP) in COVID-19 patients and survivors were anticipated already during early stages of this pandemic. We aimed to synthesize the prevalence of the anxiety, depression, post-traumatic and general distress domain associated with virus epidemics since 2002.

Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase from 2002 to April 14, 2021 for peer-reviewed studies reporting prevalence of MHP in adults with laboratory-confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-1, H1N1, MERS-CoV, H7N9, Ebolavirus, or SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Telehealth-Based Psychoeducation for Caregivers: The Family Intervention in Recent-Onset Schizophrenia Treatment Study.

Background: Schizophrenia is a lifelong illness that requires long-term treatment and caregiving. Family psychoeducation (FP) has been shown to lessen caregiver burden, improve caregiver functioning, and improve outcomes in patients. However, the impact of FP delivered specifically to caregivers on patient outcomes has not been well explored, particularly for early schizophrenia.