July 2017
In This Issue
Who We Are
SPARC
As a Massachusetts
Department of Mental Health Research Center of Excellence, SPARC aims to improve the mental and behavioral health of all citizens of Massachusetts and beyond.
SPARC
Transitions RTC
A division of SPARC, the Transitions RTC promotes the full participation in socially valued roles of transition-age youth and young adults (ages 14-30) with serious mental health conditions.
What We Do
SPARC and Transitions RTC are committed to transferring knowledge and insights gained through rigorous research to improve the lives of people with lived mental health experience.

We conduct Participatory Action Research, an all-inclusive approach that ensures that every aspect of our research incorporates the voices of those with lived mental health experience. 
Tell Us What You Think
We want to hear from you!
 
If you are interested in knowing more about a particular area of research or want to collaborate with us, please let us know .
Contact us at:
 SPARC@umassmed.edu
 
Subscribe & Share! Please share this e-letter with your networks; we're happy to include them in our circle.
Stay Connected

UPCOMING EVENTS
Local Presentations
 

Researchers from SPARC and the Transitions RTC will be presenting at the August 18-21 Alternatives Conference 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. Stay tuned to see copies of their presentations.

Don't miss the Transitions RTC Webinar on the CHEER Study

Thursday, September 15
12 PM - 1 PM

Stay tuned for more details on this upcoming webinar featuring Kathryn Sabella, Laura Golden and Emma Pici-D'Ottavio.
ADVANCING RESEARCH
New study on paternal perinatal depression!
 
In this new study Kate Biebel plans to identify the perspectives of fathers and health care stakeholders about potential strategies  to address paternal perinatal depression, which will lay the groundwork to ultimately develop a prototype intervention to address depression among perinatal men, in order to optimize child, maternal and paternal outcomes. Learn more here .

See more on SPARC's work on Child, Youth & Family Mental Health here .
IMPROVING PRACTICE
Phase 1 Complete!
 
Read about Phase 1 of the Deaf ACCESS project lead by Melissa Anderson and Tim Riker in this new SPARC issue brief.  The goal of the Deaf ACCESS project is to improve Deaf people's trust and involvement in biomedical research. Read the issue brief here. 

Like this? See more like it  here .
CHANGING POLICY
How Can We Make Organizational Changes?
 
There are many opportunities for clinicians and leaders in mental health and addiction treatment programs to champion more discussion about wellness and integrate evidence-based treatments that can decrease patient morbidity and mortality. Read more.

Find out more about SPARC's wellness research here.
EMPOWERED TO ACT
Looking for a Job?
 
As young people, it may be scary to think about getting  a  job and even as adults, applying for a new job is still scary! 
Comeback TV//Applying for a Job: Where and How provides some tips about different ways to look for and apply for jobs to maximize your results! Watch the video here .
FEATURED RESEARCHER
Gina M. Vincent
Gina M. Vincent, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UMass Medical School, Co-Director of the Law and Psychiatry Program, Director of Translational Law and Psychiatry at SPARC, and Director of the Evaluation Core for the Massachusetts Center of Excellence for Specialty Courts. 
Dr. Vincent has specialized interests in both juvenile justice and adult offender populations, particularly with respect to implementation and policy research, violence and re-offending risk assessment, psychopathic personality disorder, and test construction. Her main goals pertain to the fair and accurate use of risk assessment procedures in juvenile justice and the neuropsychological relation between psychopathic traits and addiction. She has published, lectured, and presented research at over 100 international and national conferences and juvenile justice facilities in the areas of juvenile callous-unemotional traits, risk/needs assessment, adolescent substance abuse, and mental health symptoms in juvenile justice.  Read more about her work here. 

Dr. Vincent published Are Risk Assessments Racially Biased?: Field Study of the SAVRY and YLS/CMI in Probation in the June 2017 issue of Psychological Assessment . Learn more here .
In the News
Kate Biebel and Nancy Byatt, SPARC researchers, were quoted in the May 2017  MCPAP Newsletter article
Fathers Get Depressed Too: Addressing Paternal Postpartum Depression.

   We still think of mothers as the primary caregiver. Fathers are always the sidekick. Men are desperate for someone to ask how they are doing and what their concerns are.

  
                   Visit SPARC online at:   www.umassmed.edu/sparc


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