The STARR News: November 2022 |
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November is
Caregivers Appreciation
Month
November is recognized as National Caregiver Appreciation Month, a month-long tribute to recognize those individuals providing care-giving support to a family member or loved one with a chronic illness or disability.
This year’s theme is “Caregiving Around the Clock.” There are over 53 million Americans who are unpaid caregivers to family, friends, and neighbors. 27% of adult caregivers are helping someone with a mental illness.It’s important for caregivers to take care of their own mental health, so this month, do what you can to support caregivers with information and resources to help them maintain their mental health and better serve loved ones with mental illness.
- Finding the Right Provider
- Communicating with Health Professionals
- Getting an Accurate Diagnosis
- Discharge Planning
- Health Insurance
- Community Services
- Dealing with the Criminal Justice System
- Planning for the Future
- Confidentiality and Family Involvement
- Taking Care of Yourself
This month, take a moment to acknowledge caregivers and show them that you appreciate their efforts!
Find more information and resources HERE and HERE.
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Project RockSTARR Advocacy Ace Awards: November Spotlight: Chicago Research Center / PI: Yuhwen Chow, M.D.
The RockSTARR Advocacy Ace Awards are given to individuals whose screened volunteers have designated the most donations to their local advocacy organizations. We'll feature our Advocacy Aces throughout the year.
This month, we are delighted to congratulate Justin Amburgey at Chicago Research Center, who raised $1,800 in donations for their local NAMI, MHA, and DBSA chapters through the RockSTARR program. We commend Justin's work in support of the research volunteers and local advocacy groups.
Your local advocacy groups and study volunteers thank you, Justin!
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Project RockSTARR is a donation program that puts sponsors' advocacy support to work building relationships between advocacy and research at the local level, and supporting community efforts to help those living with mental illnesses. |
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Featured STARR Certified Sites
Congratulations to the three CNS Healthcare sites that have renewed their STARR Site Certification, as well as their commitment to the STARR principles of community and advocacy engagement, stigma reduction, and ensuring that research is widely recognized as a trusted care option.
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Since 1996, CNS Healthcare has been a dependable research partner for sponsors and CRO’s. With three independent research centers located in Jacksonville, FL, Orlando, FL, and Memphis, TN, the CNS Healthcare staff is dedicated to the highest integrity, quality and ethical standards, without exception.
Pictured below are CNS Healthcare's Orlando, Jacksonville, and Memphis sites.
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The CNS Healthcare staff take pride in providing quality data, with efficiency and precision, while offering the best care to their patients.
Thank you for your passion and dedication!
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Update on the 988 Lifeline
The federal government mandated the 988 hotline, but it is up to states to ensure there are crisis services—24/7 local crisis call centers, mobile crisis teams, and crisis stabilization options—so 988 callers receive the help they need.
Model state legislation is available for policymakers and advocates to change the way their community responds to people in a mental health crisis. The model legislation includes a new funding mechanism for states to create a monthly fee on all phone lines—similar to how communities fund 911—to ensure that 988 funding is sustainable and that these emergency services will not experience any funding gaps. To protect against fee diversion, the model bill requires 988 fees to be deposited in a trust fund that can only be used in support of the 988 crisis response system.
ReimagineCrisis is an initiative led by NAMI that brings together a diverse group of leading organizations to support 988. They are tracking efforts to support 988 and offer the map below showing the status of each state in their uptake of 988 state legislation:
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According to the Reimagine map, only five states have enacted comprehensive 988 implementations: California, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, and Washington. Several more states are somewhere in the process of creating legislation to support their 988 implementation, but all of those gray states -- they have yet to do anything to support 988 in their state.
According to the Council of State Governments (CSG), Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington have passed legislation to fund the project.
According to the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), 23 states have enacted some sort of legislation. NASHP and CSG both included Kentucky, which appropriated $500,000 from tobacco settlements for the Kentucky Rural Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Pilot, in part to enhance the awareness of 9-8-8. The Reimagine map indicates that in Kentucky, comprehensive support was put forward, but didn't pass.
While nailing down data is a bit complicated, one thing is clear: 988 is not getting the attention or the support that it needs. Fortunately, there is something that we can do about that -- keep talking about it; keep pushing for it; keep it in the public eye. When you hear the negative opinions and stories, try to counter them with positive stories and hope for the future.
We've got a way to go, but at least we've started the journey.
References:
988 Partner Toolkit
SAMHSA recognizes the need for governments, states, crisis centers, and partners to speak with one voice to ensure there is a clear understanding about what 988 is and how it will work. They have developed a 988 Partner Toolkit and encourage everyone to use the key messages, templates, social media posts, and printed materials.
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Neuroscience 2022 will be held in-person in San Diego, CA, November 12-16. SfN will also offer a sampling of annual meeting content virtually, including the opportunity for virtual posters. Each year, scientists from around the world congregate to discover new ideas, share their research, and experience the best the field has to offer. Find more information here.
CNS Summit 2022 will be held November 17-20 at The Boca Raton Resort. Founded in 2009 by R&D leaders in Life Sciences, CNS Summit was created to advance clinical development, with a focus on innovation, collaboration and technology. Find more information here.
ASENT Annual Meeting 2023, being held March 13-15, 2023, will be virtual and free to attend. Learn about the latest in neurotherapeutics including innovations across disease states, novel delivery systems, gene therapy and biomarkers, and drug therapies and devices. Learn more here.
The ADAA 2023 Conference will be held on April 13-16, 2023, in Washington, DC at the Renaissance Washington, Downtown DC. The theme for the conference is From Science and Technology to Evidence-Based Practice: Enhancing Access Through Integration. For more information, click here.
ACRP 2023 is being held April 28-May 1 in Dallas. The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) invites clinical research professionals to join them to learn strategies, best practices, and creative solutions for improving clinical trial quality and advancing your career. Learn more here.
Save the date for the American Psychological Association (APA) 2023 Annual Meeting, May 20-24, 2023 in San Francisco, CA. When information becomes available, you can find it here.
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The Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) to be held at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on May 30 – June 02, 2023. Submissions are open for presentations and posters. Details can be found here.
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Stress Link in the Brain Confirmed -- A new study out of the University of Iowa confirms a neural circuit that links the caudal medial prefrontal cortex to the midbrain dorsolateral periaqueductal gray which governs stress response. Through experiments with rats, the researchers showed how rats responded to a threat either passively or actively—and linked each reaction to a specific pathway in the brain. Clinching the connection, and how it regulates stress, is important, due to the known physical- and mental-health impacts of chronic stress.
Huge Unveiling of Schizophrenia Brain Cells Show New Treatment Targets -- The study out of the University of Copenhagen reveals a “hotspot” for schizophrenia in the upper prefrontal cortex of the brain. In this area, researchers identified distinct neural networks that may be responsible for the overall symptoms of schizophrenia. The researchers specifically studied post mortem brain tissue from adult patients with schizophrenia using control samples from non-schizophrenic brains.
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A systematic review and meta-analysis of 6 trials with 340 patients suggests that ECT may be superior to ketamine in improving depression severity. Findings also suggest that ketamine and ECT each have unique adverse effect profiles.
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CenExel iResearch Atlanta participated in NAMIWalks Georgia on October 15 at the Georgia State Capitol. The annual mental health walk raises funds and awareness for NAMI Georgia and other NAMI affiliates across the state. CenExel iResearch was proud to be a sponsor and share information on clinical research opportunities with attendees.
Pictured is Rachel Barber, iResearch Atlanta's Community Outreach Specialist, with Kim Jones, NAMI Georgia Executive Director.
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Finger Lakes Clinical Research welcomes Dr. M. Saleem Ismail as their new site Principal Investigator! Dr. Ismail has experience with a variety of CNS studies, including Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, and Alzheimer's Disease, and is a certified rater.
Dr. Ismail was previously a Staff Psychiatrist with the Rochester Mental Health Center where he was responsible for the clinical care of patients with chronic and persistent mental illness.
Join us in welcoming Dr. Ismail to the STARR community!
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Segal Trials is proud to announce that they will once again be a part of Wonderland Miami! Rishi Kakar MD will share his experience as a private research site PI conducting clinical trials with psychedelic medicine and the current landscape of clinical trial development. They are a gold booth sponsor and look forward to meeting everyone, learning from others, and sharing their expertise on psychedelic medicine and the latest in psychedelic research.
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Congressional Briefing on Psychedelics now available to view |
On Wednesday September 21st, 2022, the American Brain Coalition and the American College of Neuropharmacology hosted a virtual Congressional briefing focused on the potential use of psychedelics in the treatment of psychiatric diseases. In case you missed it, you can view the recording & read the summary now on ABC’s website or click the graphic to view on YouTube.
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We are very happy to report that STARR founding member and dear friend Matthew Shapiro, NAMI-NYS, is doing well and back at work after his accident. Not only is he back, but he shared space with Selena Gomez, Venus Williams, and Andy Cohen, among others, in a Newsweek article on World Mental Health Day, published on October 10, 2022! You can check out the full article here.
Matthew wanted to remind everyone in the NY area of the Annual NAMI-NYS Education Conference, taking place Friday November 11th and Saturday November 12th in Albany. At the conference, NAMI-NYS presents the latest information on current research, treatment options and advocacy issues that impact the delivery of mental health care.
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Last week, Datacubed hosted a webinar on maximizing retention in pediatric trials and I wanted to share some of my take-aways from the webinar.
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Foster trust – every interaction impacts trust, from creating a welcoming environment, to setting clear expectations and meeting them, to being respectful to both the child and their caregiver.
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Build your patient’s personal commitment to the study – encourage them to feel like they are helping find a cure and that they are part of the research team. The more the patient feels they are part of the research team, the less likely they’ll be to drop out of the study.
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Use positive reinforcement -- create motivational intervals and rewards for hitting those milestones.
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Reduce caregiver friction – the caregiver’s continued engagement is a significant aspect in pediatric trial patient retention, so it’s important to minimize any negative or annoying surprises or wait times. Be sure to set, manage, and meet caregivers’ expectations and when appropriate, engage the caregiver as a ‘partner’ in the trial.
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Did you know that sponsors and CROs look at the list of sites on the STARR Site Certification page to find sites for their psych studies?
Did you know that sponsors and CROs are looking for sites, they ask the STARR to check with the Certified sites?
We send out inquiries on behalf of sponsors and CROs to the Certified sites.
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Everything The STARR Coalition does comes from our stakeholders looking to make positive change.
The STARR Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our Tax ID # is 47-4634007.
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Sites -- please share your feedback!
Do you work with the local community mental health centers?
SAMHSA reported that, as of 2019, approximately 2,700 community mental health centers were in operation. They are supported by sources such as county and state funding programs, federal funding through programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, private insurance and cash payments. The centers treat both children and adults, including individuals who are chronically mentally ill or have been discharged from an inpatient mental health facility.
Social workers, psychiatrists, counselors, psychologists and peer support specialists provide services at community mental health centers. Community mental health centers frequently contract with other providers in the community for their services; they also refer clients to other types of providers such as residential treatment centers.
Do you work with the local community mental health centers?
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Please select one response:
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Yes -- we have relationships with the community mental health providers.
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We would like to, but haven't been able to connect with them.
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No, we just don't have the bandwidth or interest.
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No, it's not applicable to our clients.
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Results from last month's survey to sites: |
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Thank you for reading!
If you have questions, comments, or would like to submit an item to be included in an upcoming newsletter, please email erica@thestarr.org.
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The STARR Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our Tax ID # is 47-4634007.
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The STARR Coalition | phone: 501-725-8890 | www.thestarr.org |
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SHARE, CARE, AND BE KIND. |
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