This Project Grant award from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the International Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.989) provides $556,917 to the University of Maryland, College Park to adapt and evaluate a home-based community health worker intervention to improve mental health and HIV care outcomes among people living with HIV in South Africa. The project aims to: 1) explore barriers and facilitators to implementing the...
This $198,531 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) aims to develop and pilot test an integrated intervention that addresses mental health and HIV medication adherence among men who have sex with men (MSM) in South Africa. The proposed "WECARE" intervention will be based on principles of problem-solving therapy, minority stress theory, and a status-neutral approach to target both mental...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) provides $180,946 to develop and evaluate a stepped implementation approach for delivering problem-solving therapy to people living with HIV in South Africa. The key products and services to be delivered include: Determining stakeholder preferences for implementing problem-solving therapy through qualitative research with people living with HIV and HIV/mental...
The federal Project Grant awarded to The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, valued at $5,393,812, supports a longitudinal study investigating the impact of changes in social determinants of health (SDOH) on the mental health of adolescents and young adults (AYA) in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is funded through the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) administered by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study...
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a $196,120 Project Grant under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to The General Hospital Corporation, doing business as Massachusetts General Hospital, to adapt and refine the Critical Time Intervention (CTI) model to prevent homelessness among transitioning service members with mental illness. The 5-year grant, awarded on January 1, 2025, will identify high-risk transitioning service members using a predictive model...
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a $197,035 Project Grant under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to The General Hospital Corporation, doing business as Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), to design and evaluate a community-based intervention to better engage men who use substances in HIV prevention services in rural South Africa. The key objectives are to: 1) explore the experiences, perceptions, and preferences for HIV prevention and health...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), is focused on developing and testing an evidence-based mental health curriculum adapted for formerly incarcerated individuals to promote successful community reintegration. The $233,250 award to the University of Wisconsin-Madison will fund a two-year study with the following objectives: Adapt the Healthy Minds Program (HMP), an existing app-based...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), provides $1,300,224 to The Johns Hopkins University to conduct the "HOMELINK2: Reducing Posthospitalization Mortality Among People Living with HIV Through Structured Home Care and Nutritional Supplementation" study. The project aims to compare the effectiveness of usual care to structured home visits or home visits plus nutritional supplementation...
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) was awarded a $321,815 R21 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242). The grant, titled "Integrating Trauma-Informed Research in Assessment of Young Women Engaged in HIV Cure Research (Post-Intervention Control) Trial with Analytical Treatment Interruption in Durban, South Africa", will fund a socio-behavioral research study to assess the experiences of young...
This federal Project Grant award of $1,935,300.00 from the National Institute of Mental Health (CFDA 93.242 - Mental Health Research Grants) will fund a site-randomized trial of a novel social network recruitment intervention called E-SNRHT in South Africa. The goal is to locate more undiagnosed HIV-positive cases, increase HIV testing among men, and reduce HIV-related stigma. The University of Illinois is the prime awardee and will collaborate with sub-awardees the Human Sciences Research...
FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF CRITICAL TIME INTERVENTION TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS FOLLOWING POST-ACUTE HOSPITAL DISCHARGE IN SOUTH AFRICA - PROJECT SUMMARY THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY-BASED CARE FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS (SMIS) CONTINUES TO BE A GLOBAL CHALLENGE, ESPECIALLY IN LOW-AND-MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES (LMICS). A PARTICULARLY DAMAGING CYCLE EMERGES WHEN PEOPLE WITH SMIS ARE ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL FOR ACUTE PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT, DISCHARGED BACK INTO COMMUNITY SETTINGS WITHOUT APPROPRIATE SUPPORT, ONLY TO BE READMITTED AGAIN DUE TO PSYCHIATRIC RELAPSE. THIS "REVOLVING DOOR" PHENOMENON IS A MULTILEVEL CHALLENGE TO MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS, INCLUDING IN COUNTRIES SUCH AS SOUTH AFRICA, WITH LITTLE TO NO FORMAL COMMUNITY-BASED SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH SMIS. HOWEVER, PROMISING EVIDENCE HAS BEEN PRODUCED THAT CRITICAL TIME INTERVENTION (CTI), A TIME- LIMITED PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTION WITH ORIGINS IN THE PREVENTION OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE USA, COULD POTENTIALLY IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL AND SYSTEM OUTCOMES BY PROVIDING SUPPORT TO VULNERABLE SERVICE USERS DURING THE DIFFICULT TRANSITION PERIOD FROM HOSPITAL TO COMMUNITY SETTINGS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT AIMS TO BUILD ON A CTI VERSION THAT DRAWS FROM COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS AND PEER SUPPORT WORKERS, ADAPTED FOR LOW-RESOURCE SETTINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA, TO DEVELOP AND PILOT A LOCALLY APPROPRIATE INTERVENTION PROGRAM FOR SOUTH AFRICA. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL DRAW FROM PARTNER PROJECT DATA, SUPPLEMENTED BY ADDITIONAL QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND COLLATED TO PROVIDE A CONTEXTUAL BASIS FROM WHICH TO ADAPT THE CTI APPROACH, ITS CONTENT AND MATERIALS. IN PARTICULAR, WE WILL SEEK OUT SPECIFIC COMMUNITY RESOURCES THAT COULD BE INCLUDED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPPORT NETWORKS, INCLUDING EXISTING PEER SUPPORT GROUPS, AND, IMPORTANTLY, THE INVOLVEMENT OF TRADITIONAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS. WE WILL THEN CONDUCT A PILOT FEASIBILITY COHORT STUDY IN THE UMGUNGUNDLOVU DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY IN KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA. WE WILL RECRUIT AND TRAIN FIVE TEAMS THAT EACH INCLUDE AN AUXILIARY SOCIAL WORKER AND A PEER SUPPORT WORKER TO PROVIDE CTI SUPPORT TO 40 PEOPLE WITH SMIS WHO ARE BEING DISCHARGED TO COMMUNITY SETTINGS FOLLOWING ACUTE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE PROCESS MEASURES IN TERMS OF THE CONSOLIDATED FRAMEWORK FOR IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH (CFIR), AND OUTCOME MEASURES IN TERMS OF REACH, EFFECTIVENESS, ADOPTION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND MAINTENANCE (RE-AIM) WILL BE GATHERED AT SEVERAL INTERVALS THROUGHOUT THE CTI PILOTING PERIOD. OUR PRIMARY OUTCOME WILL BE THE REDUCTION IN PSYCHIATRIC READMISSION OVER A 16-MONTH STUDY PERIOD, RELATIVE TO THE PREVIOUS 16-MONTH PERIOD. ALONG WITH SEVERAL SECONDARY OUTCOMES, THESE MEASURES WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY DATA TO ESTABLISH FEASIBILITY, APPROPRIATENESS, AND LIMITED EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ADAPTED CTI, AND LAY A FOUNDATION FOR FURTHER TRIAL RESEARCH.