Young Adults Getting Involved: Participatory Action Research & Transition Age Youth

Research presented on improving supports for transition age youth and young adults who have serious mental health conditions and want to complete schooling and training to move into work lives, through actively participating in the research and dissemination process

Disparities in Vocational Supports for Black Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions

This research brief discusses the disparities in vocational rehabilitation (VR) services and supports that Black young adults with mental health conditions face when compared to their White peers. It touches on what the disparities this population faces in VR are, research on barriers and facilitators to employment for Black young adults, engagement and access to vocational services and areas for future study

Young Adults Getting Involved: Participatory Action Research and Transition Age Youth [English, Vietnamese, and Spanish versions]

Vietnamese and Spanish translations of this publication are available for download under Additional Files below. Describes the positive outcomes when young adults take part in participatory action research. Originally published as: Research You Can Use, Issue 4, 2011. Also issued as Transitions RTC Tip Sheet 1, Feb. 2011

Relationships as the Foundation of Shared Decision Making: The Experience of Young Adults with Mental Health Conditions

To describe the experience of young adults with serious mental illness as active participants in making medication decisions with their psychiatrists

A Public Health Framework for the State Mental Health Authority: A Call for Action by Massachusetts Consumers and Family Members

During the Spring of 2006, Consumer Quality Initiatives (CQI) conducted 20 focus groups across the state, 12 with adults with mental illness, 3 with parents of youth with serious emotional disorder, 2 with youth with SED, 1 with family members of adult consumers, and 2 with youth in transition. Supported by a contract with Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH), the goal was to assist DMH in framing the criteria for its upcoming reprocurement. Our findings reveal a frustration with an approach to health care delivery that focuses primarily on the provision of psychiatric care (egs, medication, therapy, hospitalization). We reviewed the focus group reports to identify the most significant themes, which clustered within eight broad categories

Voices of Youth in Transition: The Experience of Aging Out of the Adolescent Public Mental Health Service System in Massachusetts: Policy Implications and Recommendations

This review presents findings from twenty-four qualitative interviews with young adults (between ages 18 – 26) who had received adolescent public mental health services in Massachusetts about transitioning to adulthood. Attempts were made to interview a variety of young people, whether or not they were still receiving services

Peer led Recovery Learning Communities: Expanding Social Integration Opportunities for People with the Lived Experience of Psychiatric Disability and Emotional Distress

Social integration is the development of mutually supportive relationships with other community members. For people with psychiatric disabilities (PD) social integration is a critical aspect of mental wellness and recovery. While people with PD generally want supportive friends, their social networks tend to be weak, often limited to treatment staff and close family. The barriers to social integration of people with PD are often high, and include public discrimination, lack of confidence, and insufficient financial resources. In the United States, community mental health providers have focused primarily on illness management and have not successfully helped clients integrate socially.  To fill that gap, people with lived experience of psychiatric disability have for many years established networks of peer support, including peer-facilitated groups. With the aim of enhancing that approach, peers in Massachusetts developed the “Recovery Learning Community” model, a regional network of peer support and education operated and staffed by people with lived experience, are distinct from most other peer run programs in that they provide meetings and workshops in various community locations, not only in a single location. In this article, we describe conceptually and with examples the significant impact RLCs have on both the social integration of people with PD and the delivery of mental health services in United States and internationally

Peer led Recovery Learning Communities: Expanding Social Integration Opportunities for People with the Lived Experience of Psychiatric Disability and Emotional Distress

Social integration is the development of mutually supportive relationships with other community members. For people with psychiatric disabilities (PD) social integration is a critical aspect of mental wellness and recovery. While people with PD generally want supportive friends, their social networks tend to be weak, often limited to treatment staff and close family. The barriers to social integration of people with PD are often high, and include public discrimination, lack of confidence, and insufficient financial resources. In the United States, community mental health providers have focused primarily on illness management and have not successfully helped clients integrate socially.  To fill that gap, people with lived experience of psychiatric disability have for many years established networks of peer support, including peer-facilitated groups. With the aim of enhancing that approach, peers in Massachusetts developed the “Recovery Learning Community” model, a regional network of peer support and education operated and staffed by people with lived experience, are distinct from most other peer run programs in that they provide meetings and workshops in various community locations, not only in a single location. In this article, we describe conceptually and with examples the significant impact RLCs have on both the social integration of people with PD and the delivery of mental health services in United States and internationally

Enhancing the Social Networks of People with Mental Illnesses: A Qualitative Study on the Role of Peer-Operated Recovery Learning Communities [English and Spanish versions]

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under Additional Files below. In 2014, researchers from the UMass Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center (SPARC) partnered with the Central Massachusetts Recovery Learning Communities (RLC) to complete a pilot study exploring the relationship between RLC participation and experiences of social integration. Utilizing participatory action research (PAR) principles, investigators from both SPARC and the RLC worked collaboratively to design an exploratory qualitative study, analyze data, and present findings

The Recovery Learning Community (RLC) Outcomes Study: Perspectives of RLC Participants [English and Spanish versions]

A Spanish translation of this publication is available to download under Additional Files below. Researchers at the UMass Medical School Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center (SPARC) worked with peer and state mental health stakeholders to develop a mixed-methods survey to assess individuals’ personal, health, and life outcomes in relation to Recovery Learning Community participation