The medical school will join the Athens Photographic Project to create a research community for mental health patients.
Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is teaming up with the Athens Photographic Project to learn about mental health and create a research community for patients.
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes healthcare research, awarded $15,000 to the two groups to create a patient-centered research community, which will include patients, caregivers, researchers and trained mental health professionals.
“Our community has a rich history of working collaboratively to adapt treatment and recovery services to meet the changing needs and goals of individuals living with persistent mental health conditions in Southeast Ohio,” Nate Thomson, executive director of the Athens Photographic Project and project lead, said in a news release.
The Athens Photographic Project is a 15-year-old nonprofit organization that uses photography as a recovery tool to assist those struggling with mental illness in Southeast Ohio.
A goal of the partnership is to “fill gaps in care” for mental health patients, according to the release.
“By bringing together diverse perspectives, we hope the PCRC (patient-centered research community) will play a key role in the development of consumer-led research studies that benefit the community,” Kelly Nottingham, executive director of primary care research initiatives at the Heritage College and co-project lead, said in the release. “We also hope it will provide an opportunity for community members to learn from experts in the field.”
The groups plan to examine alternative treatments and other clinical options through the research community for nine months.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute funded the project through its Pipeline to Proposal Awards program that allows nontraditional research groups to create research proposals.
“Our PCORI project will ensure that mental health consumers have a voice in research,” Thomson said in the release. “I am very excited to see who will be attracted to working with us on the project and hope to foster candid conversations and learning experiences along the way.”
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