The current status of academic-mental health linkages in Rhode Island

The interest of trainees in working with seriously mentally ill persons

Working with persons who have severe and persistent mental illness has generally not been a preferred career track for prospective mental health professionals. Most of the literature has focused on the recruitment of psychiatrists. This paper reports the results of 78 students in Rhode Island representing three allied mental health professions-social work, psychology, and nursing. Significant differences were found in training environments and learning activities, in interests in working with various diagnostic groups, and in rating the relative importance of both client problems as well as interventions strategies. Implications for future academic-mental health linkages are suggested.

State services research capacity: building a state infrastructure for mental health services research

State mental health agencies in the United States manage increasingly larger and complex systems of care. This requires an increasingly sophisticated workforce and decision support infrastructure. However, with the exception of larger states with their own research and evaluation offices, few states have the necessary resources to develop these important elements. Bringing in talent from academic organizations who have research as a priority may be the preferred direction for many states. The unique approach developed in South Carolina is the first systematic collaboration between a state mental health system and a multi-institutional, inter-disciplinary academic group oriented towards developing a comprehensive, statewide infrastructure for policy-relevant mental health services research.