UC Davis is one of only four sites selected from a small number of organizations across the country that are qualified to do this type of work.
"We are delighted that UC Davis' early intervention program is participating in this important project," said Cameron Carter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences who is directing the new program at UC Davis. "This work has the potential to have a major impact on the treatment of mental health problems in adolescents and young adults, moving the field toward a more preventative approach, which is common in most other areas of medicine."
The EDIPPP effort seeks to replicate an innovative and highly promising approach to psychosis prevention that's been developed in Portland, Maine. There, approximately 86 percent of young people who enrolled in the Portland program - called "Portland Identification and Early Referral" - did not experienced a full-blown psychotic episode a year later. According to experts, the expected rate would be 50 to 60 percent for that group of young people.
"UC Davis Health System is now a partner in an exciting endeavor to protect young people from the tremendous anguish and devastation of psychotic illness," said Jane Isaacs Lowe, senior program officer at the foundation. "In selecting the health system to participate in this program, we were particularly impressed by the high level of community involvement for the project. That will be a key element to the project's success."
More than 15 community organizations around Sacramento, ranging from the African American Mental Health Providers to the La Familia Counseling Center and the Hmong Women's Heritage Association, have partnered with UC Davis for what essentially is a research program with a mission: to prevent psychotic illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
"The critical foundation for carrying out this effort is the community in which our young people live," said J. Daniel Ragland, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and deputy director of the new UC Davis program. "The program will reach out to teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses, students, parents, clergy, police officers and others who interact regularly with young people and educate them on the early signs of psychotic illness so that they can identify teens and young adults who are at risk."
The program will focus on young people, ages 12 to 25, who show early symptoms of psychotic illness but do not yet have the disease.
Based on the level of need, young people and their families will receive one of two treatment plans. The experimental plan offers ongoing evidenced-based, psychosocial support and education, treatment, and medication for young people and their families. The comparison plan is also evidence based and will be offered to those young people and families at much lower risk of illness. They will receive careful monitoring, support, and referrals for further treatment, as needed.
Approximately two to three percent of youth and young adults develop schizophrenia or a severe, psychotic mood disorder, with most cases developing after age 12. Psychotic illness is crippling: 75 percent of people who have schizophrenia go on to develop a disability and only a small percentage are gainfully employed. An estimated 12 to 15 percent of people who suffer from psychosis commit suicide.
The new program at UC Davis is based on more than a dozen years of experience in providing mental health care for young patients. The health system has worked with local schools, mental health experts, family advocates and ethnic communities for many years to provide culturally and linguistically-competent services. UC Davis' Center for Reducing Health Disparities, along with the health system's medical interpreting services, will provide additional resources for the new program, helping to enhance community partnerships and working with native-speaking mental health professionals to provide educational and clinical resources for all segments of the young, at-risk populations.
Partners in the project include:
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Sacramento City Unified School District -
UC Davis Counseling & Psychological Services -
Sacramento State Psychological & Counseling Services -
Sacramento County Mental Health Services -
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Sacramento -
Mental Health Association, Sacramento Chapter -
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies -
Staglin Family Foundation -
Crossroads Employment Services - Sacramento Children's Home
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African American Mental Health Providers -
El Hogar Mental Health & Community Services -
La Familia Counseling Center, Inc. -
Southeast Asian Assistance Center -
Asian Pacific Community Counseling -
Hmong Women's Heritage Association -
Slavic Assistance Center -
"Psychotic illness destroys lives, but we hope to save many of those lives through prevention," said Carter. "Through our new program, the entire community of Sacramento will play an active role helping vulnerable young people stay healthy and lead productive lives."
UC Davis Health System is an academic medical center that includes a top-ranked school of medicine, a 577-bed acute care hospital, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, the M.I.N.D. Institute for the study of neurodevelopmental disorders, a comprehensive children's hospital, a level 1 trauma center and outpatient clinics in communities throughout the Sacramento region. Consistently ranked among the nation's top medical schools and best hospitals, UC Davis has established itself as a national leader in telehealth, rural medicine, cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, vascular medicine, trauma and emergency medicine, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with diverse groups of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.
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Copies of all news releases from UC Davis Health System are available on the Web at
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/newsroom.