$2.9 million NIMH grant will allow Leopoldo J. Cabassa to focus on Chile
From the WashU Newsroom…
Leopoldo J. Cabassa, associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, is part of a team that has received a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study interventions for people suffering from mental health issues in Chile.
“This project is a multidisciplinary collaboration and partnership that aims to improve the quality of care and outcome for people and families with first episode psychosis in Chile,” Cabassa said. “I’m bringing my expertise and experiences in implementation science and health disparities research to this global mental health study.”
First episode psychosis (FEP) refers to the first time someone experiences psychotic symptoms or a psychotic episode. People experiencing a first episode may not understand what is happening. The symptoms can be highly disturbing and unfamiliar, leaving the person and their family members confused and distressed.
The overarching goal of the grant is to address the shortfall in evidence-based practices for FEP in Chile by first adapting OnTrackChile from OnTrackNY, a coordinated specialty care program for FEP currently being implemented across the United States, and then implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of OnTrackChile on a wide scale.