The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) seeks support to continue the National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research (NCAIANMHR) and thereby extend its efforts to advance the highest quality research and leadership in several areas of inquiry that are of critical importance to the mental health of this special population. The NCAIANMHR is pursuing a comprehensive research program and related research training opportunities that addresses a number of theoretical and programmatic issues in the assessment, epidemiology, and management of serious psychological dysfunction and major mental illness among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Accordingly, the specific aims of the Center include: 1) Providing an administrative structure that promotes excellence in mental health research and research training appropriate for American Indian and Alaska Native communities; 2) Planning and carrying out an interdisciplinary, problem-oriented mental health research program of major scientific and programmatic importance for American Indians and Alaska Natives, with particular emphasis on: a) the performance characteristics of self-report measures as well as structured diagnostic protocols for assessing serious psychological dysfunction and major mental illness among children, adolescents, and adults; b) the prevalence and incidence of serious psychological dysfunction and major mental illness among children, adolescents, and adults in the population at large as well as within psychological dysfunction and major mental illness in these settings; 3) Structuring training as an integral part of the aforementioned mental health research program; 4) Disseminating the results of this work as a means of guiding the design, conduct, and interpretation of future mental health research in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and 5) Assisting individuals as well as organizations in planning and implementing mental health research and in maximizing its relevance for programmatic application in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
These aims are accomplished through an unique interdisciplinary, multi-institutional network of faculty, staff, and research associates that represent all relevant mental health fields and that involves 20 American Indian doctoral level investigators.
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