The United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided funding for research in the area of Public and Mental Health, launched in partnership between Yale University and Unicamp. The study, ititled “Adapting and implementing peer support to optimize engagement and outcomes for people with serious mental illness in Campinas, Brazil", provides funding of around R$3,6 million over three years of research. Swas led by psychiatry professors Maria O'Connell and Chyrell Bellamy, from The Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health (PRHC), and Rosana Onocko Campos, professor at search group "Public Health and Mental Health - Interfaces". FCM Public Health Department. The launch took place at a conference in the Red Room of Campinas City Hall on Friday (4).
They also contribute to the work the interdisciplinary team at the Yale Program made up of Mark Costa, Graziela Reis, Heather McDonald Bellamy and Kimberly Guy; in addition to Carlos Treichel, professor of the Postgraduate Program in Public Health: Health Policies and Management, at FCM, among other members of Unicamp.
According to professor at the Faculty of Nursing (FEnf) Giovana Saidel, who also collaborates in the research, “peer support” or “peer support” is a system of mutual help that is based on principles of respect, shared responsibility and empathetic understanding of the other's situation. This understanding stems from a common experience of emotional and psychological suffering, that is, the belief that someone who has faced and overcome some type of adversity can offer support, hope and guidance to others facing similar situations.
Thus, the objective of the research is to work with the cultural adaptation of a peer intervention. This evidence-based intervention aims to implement peer support in community mental health services, engaging users post-hospitalization in mental and physical health care; to employ an experimental therapeutic approach to determine the level, degree, and outcomes of improvement at multiple levels through a pilot clinical trial; and to evaluate the feasibility, safety and dissemination potential of the adapted peer intervention at multiple levels.
According to the researchers, the implementation of a peer support model adapted to Brazilian culture will contribute to improving engagement levels, continuity of care and improvements in the quality of life and well-being of people with mental disorders. After the study, the feasibility, acceptability and safety of adapting a low-cost, culturally responsive and evidence-based intervention to improve the engagement of people with mental illness accessing treatment in community mental health services will have been established.
“PRCH is looking forward to working with Unicamp in Brazil to make this initiative work for the people it aims to serve,” said Bellamy. “While there has been implementation of peer support in Latinx countries, there is much work that needs to be done, which begins by listening and partnering with communities to adapt to the culture and service needs of the community to ensure successful implementation and sustainment. successful”, added the researcher.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The NIH is the primary federal medical research agency from United States, bringing together 27 institutes and centers, in addition to being part of the country's Department of Health and Human Services. The NIH conducts and supports basic, clinical, and translational medical research that investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for common and rare diseases. For more information about their programs, visit the agency website.
Article originally published on the Faculty of Medical Sciences website.
