The STARR News: October 2022

October is filled with a focus on mental health education and awareness!

The entire month of October is filled with awareness events, sharing of information and education on mental health illnesses, screenings, and prevention. The following are observed throughout October:

  • National Depression Education & Awareness Month
  • Mental Health Screening Month
  • Health Literacy Month
  • ADHD Awareness Month
  • Bullying Prevention Month

Observed focus weeks throughout October are:

  • Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW) (First week of October)
  • OCD Awareness Week (Second week of October)
  • National Health Education Week (Third week of October)

Observed focus days include:

  • National Depression Screening Day (October 8)
  • World Mental Health Day (October 10)

Each year, millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition. However, mental illness affects everyone directly or indirectly through family, friends or coworkers. That is why each year, during the first week of October, advocacy groups and individuals across the country raise awareness of mental illness, fight discrimination, and provide support through Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW).

Since 1990, when Congress officially established the first full week of October as MIAW, advocates have worked together to sponsor activities, large or small, to educate the public about mental illness.

MIAW 2022 - NAMI
This year’s NAMI's MIAW is centered around the theme “What I Wish I Had Known” where they will focus on the power of lived experience. Each day throughout the week, NAMI will be elevating the voices of people with lived experience to talk about the components of their recovery where they learned something that could have helped them sooner. The topics include: What I Wish I’d Known About…
  • Monday Oct. 3: Stigma
  • Tuesday Oct. 4: Medication [National Day of Prayer for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding]
  • Wednesday Oct. 5: Therapy
  • Thursday Oct. 6: Disclosing [National Depression Screening Day]
  • Friday Oct. 7: Caregiving

Find more information and resources HERE and HERE.
Project RockSTARR Advocacy Ace Awards: October spotlight : Harmonex Neuroscience Research, Dothan, AL / PI: Nelson Handal

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 Barbara Baldwin at Harmonex Neuroscience Research, who raised over $1,000 in donations for their local NAMI, MHA, and DBSA chapters through the RockSTARR program. Barbara was securing donations to advocacy right up until the study affiliated with the program closed! We commend Barbara's work in support of the research volunteers and local advocacy groups!

Your local advocacy groups and patients served thank you, Barbara!
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.

Auditory Hallucination Simulation Empathy Exercise at Karuna Therapeutics
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Last month, Karuna Therapeutics hosted an event for their staff using the STARR Auditory Hallucination Simulation. The event had a profound impact on the staff, bringing renewed passion to help those living with schizophrenia.
The empathy exercise was conducted via Zoom with the Karuna staff completing the Simulation on the STARR online platform. Most found the auditory hallucinations very distracting, with some commenting that focus was “almost impossible” with the voices in the headphones. Everyone found it compelling and left the event with a greater understanding and appreciation of auditory hallucinations. The company, which is working on a new treatment for schizophrenia among other things, is considering including the Auditory Hallucination Simulation as a regular part of their new employee training.
 
The STARR Auditory Hallucination Simulation was created with input from individuals that live with auditory hallucinations and was recorded using surround-sound to make the simulation as authentic as possible. It was created to give a glimpse into the mind of someone living with auditory hallucinations commonly associated with schizophrenia to provide a more personal understanding of this one aspect of life with schizophrenia.

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Access to the STARR Auditory Hallucination Simulation is free to STARR Certified Sites and Corporate Members. If you would like more information on the Auditory Hallucination Simulation empathy exercise, you can check out the webpage HERE or to schedule a the exercise for your company, please email erica@thestarr.org.
This month's STARR Podcast Spotlights
Marcus McCarty-Towers,
Patient Recruitment Coordinator, Midwest Clinical Research Center


In this episode, Mallory chats with Marcus McCarty-Towers, who is the Patient Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator at Midwest Clinical Research Center (MCRC), one of the Evolution Research Group sites.

Marcus brings his eclectic experience to MCRC and talks candidly about how having a brother with schizophrenia helped shape his desire to help people. He also discusses his successful outreach strategies -- making this a must-listen podcast for the sites out there looking for new ways to engage and recruit patients!

Meet Marcus on this month's featured podcast HERE.

For this and all of the STARR Podcasts, you can find the STARR Podcast archive HERE.
Update on the 988 Lifeline
Excerpts from The Washington Post Opinion: The proof is in the numbers: 988 will save lives

The 988 mental health hotline was launched in July of this year with the hope of providing better and faster access to mental health services for those who need it. But how well it is serving the community? Here is this month's update.

SAMHSA’s latest data shows the number of contacts to 988 via call, text and chat in August 2022 increased 45 percent over August 2021 — an increase of 152,000 contacts.

This significant increase in contacts has occurred even before there has been any wide-scale public awareness campaign to promote 988, so the number of contacts will likely continue to grow.

Call centers and state leaders are rising to the challenge to meet the increased need. The average answer time across calls, texts and chats are decreasing, and answer rates are increasing, with 20 states answering more than 90 percent of in-state calls in August compared to just seven in January.
988’s success thus far gives us an opportunity to reimagine how we respond to people in a mental health crisis, and it couldn’t be more timely. The United States is in the midst of a mental health emergency. American adults are experiencing a threefold increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to 2019. One American dies by suicide every 11 minutes.

In the 2021 federal budget, the lifeline received $24 million. That investment has grown to more than $250 million in 2022, and the administration has requested nearly $700 million for 988 and crisis services in 2023. That money would not only help build up 988 capacity but also support a full crisis continuum of care.

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.

Site Spotlight:
Neuro-Behavioral
Clinical Research

Meet Molly Little and her team at Neuro-Behavioral Clinical Research (NBR) and the Ohio Center for Hope.

Molly focuses on promoting their local community presence and works to take the stigma out of mental health research by letting the community know that they are there for them. Molly is trained as a medical sociologist and is getting her master’s degree in social work. Paired with her concierge background from doing catering for her family’s farm, Ms. Little loves that work allows her to treat their clients as guests. On starting at NBR and the Ohio Center for Hope, Molly said, “I had a good bit of professional burnout when I met Dr. Malhotra and this staff. I was hesitant to jump back into a clinical setting, but NBR and 'The Center' are really caring for the client…not just for their value as a subject.”

Using clinical trials as the basis for patient care Ms. Little says “Our team has developed a unique model for outreach and recruitment that is rooted in clinical ethics paired with harm-reduction techniques. Our team is making a positive change in people’s lives--even people who do not qualify for a study. From those who participate in our memory and cognition trials to people who only attend our free mental health support groups, we try to empower people who are suffering from what I call “whole life conditions.” With clinical trials, free cognitive testing, our wellness clinic, and peer-lead support groups we try to provide “whole life care.” Looking into the upcoming season, Molly and The Center are planning to participate and create events that showcase the merriment of the holidays. This October they will be at local Trunk-or-Treats for Halloween. After that, she is working to create 'Hope For The Holidays', a service-based event series for those struggling with the pressures of the holiday season.

NBR is located in North Canton, Ohio and is a clinical psychiatric practice and clinical research site with both in-patient and out-patient facilities. NBR established the Ohio Center for Hope to provide continued care that empowers people struggling with mental illness, addiction, or memory loss. Our services come at no cost and insurance is not needed. The goal is to end the stigma within the community, raise awareness, and point patients in the right direction when it comes to their mental health. At NBR and the Ohio Center for Hope, no patient is left behind.
The Site Solutions Summit is being held October 7-9, 2022 in Hollywood, Florida. Organized by the Society for Clinical Research Site (SCRS), the Site Solutions Summit provides a unique hub where sites, sponsors, CRO executives, and regulators come together to discuss best practices and ideas while developing strategic partnerships through ideation sessions, workshops, and focus groups. Learn more here.
DBSA Support Alliance Summit The virtual meeting is being held October 10-14, 2022, with sessions on wellness resources, how to become a mental health advocate, policy reform, the 988 Lifeline, BIPOC Outreach, and much more. This is a great opportunity to learn more about and support DBSA! Learn more here.
The 2022 Mental Health Services Conference will bring together the whole team caring for those with mental illness, including psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, primary care physicians, social workers, and more, to collaborate on practical advice to influence systems-level change for their patients. Join us in-person in Washington, D.C. at the Capital Hilton Hotel, October 13-14, as we work together to develop practical solutions to solve real-world issues. Learn more here.

ASCP Psychopharmacology Update: State-of-the-Art Fall Meeting
The virtual meeting is being held October 15-16, 2022, with a program designed to provide state-of-the-art education on new developments in psychopharmacology for psychiatrists and other professionals already knowledgeable about the pharmacologic treatment of psychiatric disorders. The goal is to have the participants better assess patients in need of psychopharmacologic intervention and properly administer state-of-the-art treatment. Learn more here.
The 147th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association (ANA2022) will be held in Chicago October 22 - 25, 2022. Registration is now open. Additionally, the Research Careers Reimagined Course Planning Subcommittee, is offering a Research Careers Reimagined Course (RCR), which is taking the place of the prior Translational and Clinical Research Course (TCRC). Learn more here.

6th Edition of International Conference on Neurology and Brain Disorders Conference will be held virtually and in-person in Orlando, Florida, October 24-26. This year's is theme “Exploring the Grey Areas of Neurological Research” and brings together researchers, academicians, healthcare professionals, and government representatives to discuss the latest innovations, trends, and problems in the field. More information here.
The 5th Annual Neuropsychiatric & Psychedelic Drug Development Summit is being held in Boston, October 31 - November 2. A forum to capitalize on decades of industry experience, clinical breakthroughs, and groundbreaking science to push pipeline progression and establish commercial success, the event is devoted to tackling industry challenges in the field of mental health medicines. From AI based discovery, to validated translational models moving to trial design, regulatory concerns and logistical affairs – explore the breadth of preclinical and clinical insights to be gained at this unmissable conference. Find more info here.
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.

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. Submissions for Symposia, Roundtable, and Workshop open August 15, 2022 and deadline is October 11, 2022. For more information, click here.
Join us in supporting Adam's NAMI Walk!
This event raises funds for NAMI’s free, top-rated programs at a time when we need it most. It gives awareness of our cause a real boost, because so many people are free to open up and share their stories. NAMIWalks is a powerful community builder and your donations will directly support Sarasota and Manatee counties.
If approved, aripiprazole 2-month ready-to-use (RTU), long-acting injectable (LAI) would be the first 2- month, LAI antipsychotic indicated for both treatment of schizophrenia and the maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder in U.S. The FDA target date (PDUFA date) for completion of the review is April 27, 2023.

Real-world effectiveness of mood stabilizer use in schizophrenia -- Mood stabilizers were relatively often used as adjunctive treatments in schizophrenia and their use was associated with a 12% decreased risk of psychosis rehospitalization, a marker of relapse in schizophrenia. The study cohort included all persons treated in inpatient care due to schizophrenia during 1972-2014 in Finland (N = 61,889). The follow-up period covered the years 1996-2017.

-- A study out of the University of Chicago shows a 44% reduction in suicidal events, including suicide attempts and self-harm, in depressed patients who took folic acid supplements. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry on September 28th, used data from the health insurance claims of 866,586 patients and looked at the relationship between folic acid treatment and suicide attempts over a two-year period. They found that patients who filled prescriptions for folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, experienced a 44% reduction in suicidal events including suicide attempts and intentional self-harm.

Mechanisms of Psychostimulants on Attention and Learning Revealed -- Scientists of the Human Brain Project (HBP) have moved closer to understanding the efficacy variability of psychostimulants. Psychostimulants are commonly used as treatments of psychiatric disorders or to improve cognition, but the benefits of these drugs are widely variable. HBP scientists found that psychostimulants increase dopamine levels, enhancing task-relevant cortical signals by acting on the striatum and the difference in dopamine synthesis capacity in the striatum, which explains the variability in the drugs’ cognitive effects.

Parasocial relationships on YouTube reduce prejudice towards mental health issues -- According to researchers out of the University of Essex, parasocial relationships (PSRs) that reach large audiences with minimal resources have been shown to help reduce prejudice in an extended version of contact theory. The researchers assessed whether parasocial interventions reduce prejudice towards people with mental health issues by first creating a new PSR with a YouTube creator disclosing their experiences with borderline personality disorder. The intervention successfully reduced explicit prejudice and intergroup anxiety. They corroborated these effects through causal analyses, where lower prejudice levels were mediated by the strength of parasocial bond. Preliminary findings suggest that this lower prejudice is sustained over time. The results support the parasocial contact hypothesis and provide an organic method to passively reduce prejudice on a large scale.

Risk for Mood, Anxiety, and Psychotic Disorders in Individuals at High and Low Genetic Liability for Bipolar Disorder and Major Depression -- Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University, at Lund University in Sweden, and at Mount Sinai in New York posed the question: what is the association between genetic risk factors for major depression (MD) and bipolar disorder (BD) in the Swedish population and risks for a range of psychiatric disorders?
Findings In this cohort study including 2.7 million Swedish adults, BD and MD shared a genetic vulnerability to mood disorders. However, individuals at high genetic liability to MD and BD had substantial and relatively specific risks for anxiety disorders and psychosis, respectively. The study suggests that from a genetic perspective, BD and MD are neither very closely nor only distally related but have both shared and relatively distinct genetic risks.
Circadian Rhythm Disruption Found to Be Common Among Mental Health Disorders -- Anxiety, autism, schizophrenia and Tourette syndrome each have their own distinguishing characteristics, but one factor bridging these and most other mental disorders is circadian rhythm disruption, according to a team of neuroscience, pharmaceutical sciences and computer science researchers at the University of California, Irvine.
CNS Healthcare Jacksonville, FL just celebrated Dr. Fadi Chalhoub's 10 Year Anniversary! Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Chalhoub has provided oversight on a number of trials across a variety of therapeutic areas. Dr. Chalhoub has had several sponsor audits and an FDA inspection in his 10 years with CNS HC, and all have had very positive outcomes. Most importantly, Dr. Chalhoub is a pleasure to work with and a wonderful PI!

Congratulations and Happy 10 Year Anniversary, Dr. Chalhoub!
iResearch Atlanta hosted a Making Memories event last month, with free memory screenings! It was a fantastic event and a wonderful opportunity to share information and resources about clinical research with families and community partners.
Woodland International Research Group is partnering with NAMI Arkansas to host a block-party barbecue to KICK-OFF the Central Arkansas End The Stigma 5K/Walk that will be held on October 22nd at the Burns Park Soccer Complex in North Little Rock, Arkansas. There will be hotdogs, drinks, and live music. Everyone is welcome to participate and raise awareness that Mental Health is essential for ALL.

This is a great way to bring the community together, offering site resources, and building trust within the community!
Segal Trials is proud to announce that they will once again be a part of NAMI Walks Your Way - Broward! They are inviting everyone to be part of the Segal Trials team and support mental health with them.

The NAMI-Walks-Your-Way-Segal Trials page is now open and ready to receive your donation! When you join or support the team, you are contributing to the movement and helping to open doors throughout the mental health world. United, we are a force: increasing awareness, raising funds and building a stronger community. 
Are you STARR Certified?
The STARR Site Certification was created to help advance mental health clinical research by promoting community engagement, empathy, and communication between research sites, staff, patients, and advocacy groups, as well as providing support for best practices around working with advocacy, suicide prevention, and other areas that enhance clinical research.
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.
Sites -- please share your feedback!

Would you be interested in the STARR's help with your site's community outreach?
Please select one response:
Absolutely -- we do some outreach and know the value of it!.
Yes, we'd be interested in having STARR's assistance.
Not really, we just don't have the bandwidth or interest.
No, it's not applicable to our clients.
Results from last month's survey to sites:
Thank you for reading!
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The STARR Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our Tax ID # is 47-4634007.
The STARR Coalition | phone: 501-725-8890 | www.thestarr.org