The mission of our ACISIR: Enhancing Recovery of People with Schizophrenia, is to advance the treatment of people with schizophrenia in order to reduce suffering and to improve functional outcomes, with the ultimate goal of promoting the path to recovery. The basic clinical research expertise of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center will be integrated with the services and intervention expertise of the Division of Services Research and the Center for Behavioral Treatment of Schizophrenia to inform the development, evaluation and implementation of evidence-based practices in community settings. The development of evidence-based practices will focus on the following areas: 1) treatment-resistant positive symptoms;2) persistent negative symptoms;3) cognitive impairments;4) co-occurring substance abuse;5) co-occurring medical conditions;and 6) enhancing recovery. The evaluation of community-based practices and implementation of evidence-based practices will focus on the following areas: 1) pharmacological treatment practices;2) health and wellness interventions;3) community tenure and occupational enhancement programs;and d) consumer and family centered interventions. The ACISIR will support this work by: 1) providing assessment, data management, statistical, and subject recruitment infrastructure support for investigators;2) developing and maintaining access to a variety of clinical sites through the proposed Core Service Agency-Practice Research Network;3) developing and maintaining databases reflecting general practice in Maryland, with the ability to cross-reference findings across different datasets;4) fostering multi- disciplinary research and planning in order to develop innovative new technologies, methods, and designs for the development and implementation of evidence-based practices;5) developing innovative ethics methods;6) ensuring the contribution of community stakeholders in all aspects of our research;and 7) providing training for trainees in clinical research.
| Sundeen, Sandra J; Goldman, Howard H; Nieberding, Daniel J et al. (2013) Research and services partnerships: the practice research network: a successful collaboration in Maryland. Psychiatr Serv 64:407-9 |
