In 2015, Dr. Bonnie Kaplan, Professor Emerita at U Calgary medical school, opened two donor-advised funds, one at the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care and one at the Calgary Foundation in Canada, with an initial goal of raising a million dollars for research into the best use of micronutrients to treat and prevent mental and emotional distress. Four years later, she’s reached that goal with a $250,000 award accompanying the Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine presented to her at a gala event on September 27, 2019.
Read MoreWe have some wonderful news – for you and also for the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care. We have received confirmation that one of our friends and philanthropic partners has stepped forward with a $400,000 Matching Gift Challenge between today and Oct 31!
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Learn more and support the Hearing Voices Research & Development Fund.
Read MoreThere is an increasing amount of interest in Open Dialogue around the world. OD training programs currently are offered in the UK, USA, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Japan, etc. and a considerable amount of research being done in the wake of these training programs. The largest-ever RCT of Open Dialogue, the ODDESSI-trial (Open Dialogue: Development and Evaluation of a Social Network Intervention for Severe Mental Illness), is in its second year.
This year (2019), the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care has funded the HOPEnDialogue research project. The purpose of the project is to promote and assess the fidelity of Open Dialogue practice and evaluate its effectiveness internationally and is inspired by and linked to the ODDESSI trial. HOPEnDialogue is coordinated by the Italian National Research Council and involve an international Advisory Board of twenty OD experts.
Read MoreIn this episode, Sheila talks with psychiatrist and the Foundation’s Vice Chair Chris Gordon about his path to Open Dialogue practice and how he has integrated the approach into his community mental health program and into his teaching at Harvard Medical School, MacLean and Mass General.
If you enjoy this podcast, become a sustaining partner today with an easy monthly donation.
Corporate sponsors are welcome and donors of $75,000 or more will receive special invitations to meet Sheila’s celebrity guests in studio as well as dinner with Sheila and Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care CEO, Gina Nikkel, PhD.
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the presence of the behaviors of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and poor attention. The root causes and best solutions for these troubling behaviors will vary from child to child.
Parents concerned about the safety and effectiveness of popular drug treatments can try some promising alternatives with a significantly lower risk of unwanted side effects. Many have found psychotherapy and parent training highly effective in resolving troubling behavior and improving their child’s social skills and relationships with peers.
For some, micronutrient supplements have been life-changing:
The Micronutrients for ADHD Youth study is now accepting new participants, with sites at Oregon Health & Science University, The Ohio State University in Columbus, and University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Eligible children are age 6-12 and have not been on ADHD medications for two weeks before their participation begins.
Contact lead researcher, Jeanette Johnstone, PhD, at 503-494-3700 or [email protected] if you are within driving distance of Portland, Oregon.
If you are near Columbus, OH, contact E. Arnold, MD at [email protected]
If you are near Lethbridge, Alberta, contact B. Leung, PhD at [email protected]
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HOPEnDialogue: An International collaborative multicentre research to support the Open Dialogue Learning Community and evaluate the effectiveness of Open Dialogue in various mental health care contexts around the world
This year (2019), the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care has funded the HOPEnDialogue research project to promote and assess the fidelity of Open Dialogue practice and evaluate its effectiveness internationally. HOPEnDialogue, coordinated by the Italian National Research Council, is inspired by and linked to the ODDESSI-study, the first randomized trial of Open Dialogue, ongoing in the UK.
An International Advisory Board involving different stakeholders such as researchers, peer supporters, family members, trainers, Open Dialogue professionals, and experts in public health from eight different countries will contribute to the development of the project and promote its sustainability.
Read MoreBANGOR, Maine – A cutting edge study on the effect of micronutrients as a supporting treatment for bipolar disorder is currently underway in Bangor, Maine, led by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, at Northern Light Family Medicine and Residency.
“The purpose of this trial is to determine whether a 36-ingredient micronutrient supplement (primarily vitamins and minerals) and fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid) supplement improves nutritional status and allows lower doses of conventional medications to be effective for bipolar disorder with fewer side effects, when studied under randomized and fully blinded conditions and compared to a placebo.
A follow-up open label phase will allow all participants, including those previously taking the placebo, to try the active micronutrient treatment for an additional twelve months.
The objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a micronutrient supplement + fish oil compared with placebo. To achieve this, the study needs a total of one hundred subjects who complete the first twelve months of the study. The prevalence of this disorder in the general population is only 3% and it has been difficult to recruit sufficient subjects. Researchers need to recruit and enroll an additional fifty people in the study. All participants must live in the vicinity of Bangor, Maine. Those interested in enrolling in the study should contact Edwina at 207.973.9013.
Once the study participants complete the first twelve months of the randomized study they will transition onto the open label phase of the study. This is less intensive but will still involve quarterly check in, data collected and the micronutrient supplement + fish oil dispensed to participants by the researchers.
Our hypothesis is the micronutrients and fish oil improves nutritional status and as we do not know the nutritional baseline of participants at the start the study, the longer we can follow the participants the better we will be able to understand the impact of taking this dose of vitamins over time. To achieve this we will need an additional $25,000 so the participants can check in quarterly, the data collected and the analysis completed.
The study was first made possible by a generous donor to Dr. Bonnie Kaplan’s Nutrition & Mental Health Research Fund at the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care.
Read More(Psychiatric News) – Adolescents who have been hospitalized for suicidal behaviors may benefit from recurrent follow-up calls following hospital discharge, according to a report in Psychiatric Services.
Compared with adolescents receiving a single post-discharge call, adolescents receiving recurrent phone calls had a significantly lower rate of suicidal behavior and greater confidence in their suicide safety plan.
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