Active clinical trials for "Mental Disorders"

To determine whether retinal abnormalities, as measured by high definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) and visual electrophysiology techniques can be used as a clinical biomarker to monitor disease progression overtime in patients with Parkinson disease. To establish whether these measures can be used to identify patients with PD in the premotor phase. To define the rate of progression of retinal abnormalities in PD (both in the motor and premotor stages) for potential use as a clinical outcome measure

Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) is an evidenced-based approach to teaching consumers with severe mental illness how to set and achieve personal recovery goals and acquire the knowledge and skills to independently manage their illnesses. Longitudinal, multi-site, and randomized controlled trials have shown IMR to be effective in increasing illness self-management and coping; some evidence also points to reduced hospitalization rates. Fidelity, or adherence to a specific treatment model, is equally important to both clinical research and to the practical dissemination of evidence-based practices to the field. To this end, the research team has developed an IMR clinician-level fidelity assessment, the IMR Treatment Integrity Scale (IT-IS). However, the validity of the preliminary IT-IS has not been rigorously evaluated. Additionally, it is crucial to develop strategies to utilize the IT IS to increase adherence to the IMR model and ultimately increase consumer outcomes. The purpose of this study is to assess the construct validity of the IT-IS by testing the relationship between IT-IS elements and mechanisms of change and proximal outcomes. The investigators will collect a sample of IMR session recordings and pre-post data from IMR participants from recruitment sites in Indiana, New Jersey and several other states. The investigators will test hypothesized relationships between specific program elements and theoretically proposed mechanisms of change. The investigators will also assess organizational and clinician factors affecting IMR competence by including a survey for the staff members who are located as sites where the investigators have clinicians participating in providing IMR.

Mental disorders are common in youth and adults. Symptoms of mental are aggravated by unemployment. Compared to the working population, the unemployed have higher rates of poor health, a tendency toward negative emotionality and depression, show symptoms of exhaustion more frequently, and experience disturbed sleep or have a sleep disorder. It can be reasonably expected that unemployment in adolescents and young adults causes the same symptoms and behaviors as in adults. In those youth with a mental disorder, particularly an untreated one, the transfer from school to the employment market can be hindered. At the same time, the investigators notice an increase in early disability pensions due to mental health issues among adolescents. Thus, the early recognition and treatment of mental disorders and psychological strain is crucial in promoting the employment of young people and supporting their connection to the employment market.With this project the investigators want to implement an early intervention and reach out to unemployed youth. The investigators identified the period between graduation and first employment as the ideal moment of intervention, because this time period is a critical period in which young people are exposed to increasing personal challenges. Conducting an intervention before a psychological stress transforms into a mental disorder, can prevent harm and suffering to the afflicted person. In addition, early intervention could help prevent the need to enroll in the early disability pension program.

The New Hampshire Medicaid Wellness Incentive Program (WIP) will address both the health disparity and increased costs by providing incentivized health promotion programs to overweight or obese and/or tobacco-smoking Medicaid beneficiaries receiving services at New Hampshire's 10 regional Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs).

The study represents the research component of a broader initiative entitled "RedeAmericas". RedeAmericas (RA) is a collaborative effort of investigators from six cities across Latin America (Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Medellin, Neuquen, Rio de Janeiro, and Santiago) and Columbia University in New York. This is a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of Critical Time Intervention-Task Shifting (CTI-TS). It is designed to address a fundamental gap in the services offered by mental health clinics. These clinics are the primary locale for outpatient treatment of individuals with severe mental disorders in the urban areas of Latin America, and they offer some basic and important clinical care such as pharmacologic treatment onsite. Generally these clinics also have a major limitation; they have inadequate resources and training for the provision of in vivo community-based services, that is, services delivered outside of the clinic facility in homes or elsewhere in the community. In most urban areas, they also have weak links to primary health care and are not easily accessible to much of the population. CTI-TS, is a task shifting intervention that at the service user level provides support for better community living and promotes social integration, and at the system level strengthens the connections between mental health and primary care clinics. CTI-TS is a time-limited 9-month intervention provided at the critical time when a person is first offered services at a mental health clinic. During this period CTI-TS workers forge relationships that will shape the continuing use of services and enhance the potential for recovery over the subsequent course of time. The overall goal of CTI-TS is to improve the lives of those with severe mental disorders who receive community-based mental health care.

Background. The reduction of prevalence rates of Internet Use Disorder (IUD) and its effective treatment are at high priority in both public health and educational policies. School-based preventive interventions facilitate a low-threshold approach for individuals with IUD, who are typically characterized by high therapy avoidance. Moreover, indicated approaches which target adolescents at high-risk show larger effects than universal prevention approaches. Simultaneously, they reduce unnecessary burden for the majority of high-school students that is not at-risk. The PROTECT intervention for indicated prevention of IUD in school settings was developed based on these preventive strategies. Methods. Three-hundred and forty adolescents, aged 12-18 years, from 40 secondary schools in Germany, screened for high-risk of IUD onset, will be randomly assigned to a) PROTECT intervention group or b) assessment only control group. The tested intervention consists of a cognitive-behavioral 4-session brief-protocol. Follow-up assessments are at 1, 4 and 12 months after admission. Primary outcome is the 12-months incidence rate of IUD. Secondary outcomes are the reduction of IUD and comorbid symptoms and the promotion of problem solving, cognitive restructuring and emotion regulation skills. Discussion. The indicated preventive intervention PROTECT follows the APA-guidelines for psychological prevention. It is theory- and evidence-based (guideline 1) and addresses both risk-reduction and strength-promotion (guideline 3), it considers current research and epidemiology (guideline 4) and ethical standards (guideline 5) such as professional secrecy and is designed as a systemic intervention (guideline 8) at the school-level. It is expected that the intervention decreases risk of IUD onset (incidence rate).

This study seeks to implement wrap around services for Veterans suffering from co-occurring mental illness and substance use and who are homeless. It will compare Implementation as Usual of MISSION to Facilitation Implementation of MISSION.

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of inflammation in the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in skin-restricted lupus (SRL) patients. SRL is an inflammatory disease. Inflammation can lead to a decrease in the synthesis of neurotransmitters via the activation of the IDO enzyme and to induce the synthesis of neurotoxic molecules (kynurenin pathway). This leads to the development of psychiatric disorders. Investigator therefore want to compare inflammation and neurotransmitter synthesis in SRL patients according to the presence or absence of psychiatric disorders. Investigator expect a decrease in neurotransmitter synthesis and activation of the kynurenin pathway in patients with a psychiatric disorder.

The study examines the possible effect of a community campaign to decrease the duration of untreated psychosis in persons with their first episode of a psychotic disorder.

In order to enhance access to clinical and mental health services for Veterans who have geographic, clinical, or social barriers to in-person care, VA Offices of Connected Care and Rural Health began distributing 5,000 tablets to Veterans with access barriers in 2016. The objective of this Quality Improvement evaluation is to: Understand characteristics of Veterans who received tablets, the frequency and ways in which they used the tablets, and the effects of tablet use on access to VA services. Through a survey of Veterans, evaluate patient experiences using the tablets, and determine how tablets influenced patients' experiences with VA care, including their satisfaction, communication with providers, and access to needed services. Identify implementation barriers and facilitators to tablet distribution and use through interviews with clinicians and staff in a purposive sample of VA facilities Evaluate the effects of tablet use on chronic medical condition outcomes (e.g., hypertension, diabetes) and mental health treatment initiation and engagement (e.g., for depression, PTSD, and substance use).