Academic-Clubhouse Partnership to Promote Psychosis Recovery
Victoria Loosigian (1), Sherry Yuan, Lisa Brennan (2), Ruth Osterman (2), Abaigeal Grant (1), Xiaoduo Fan (1)
1. UMass Chan Medical School
2. Genesis Club
Background: Psychosis is associated with loss of independence, social isolation, and stigma, which contribute to overall decline in functioning and poor quality of life. While medications and therapy are helpful, building social support systems and community connections are important to facilitate recovery. Clubhouses are egalitarian, voluntary communities that provide a non-stigmatizing space to build connections and promote recovery; participation - open to anyone in the community with mental illness - is correlated with reduced hospitalization and improved quality of life. We propose a unique academic-clubhouse partnership, to enhance early intervention, foster support networks, and develop collaborative interventions for people with psychosis.
Methods: UMass Mind partnered with Genesis Club, a nonprofit clubhouse in Worcester. The collaborative process includes these steps: 1) Conduct focus groups to determine the interests and needs of the clubhouse members; 2) Develop an evidence-based project to address a specific need; 3) Present the program to the clubhouse and receive feedback; 4) Adjust, then run a pilot program, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data; 5) Based on the findings, adapt the program further; 6) Run additional iterations to receive further feedback and data and ensure it is addressing the real-world challenges people with psychosis face in our community.
Results: Lifestyle education and arts-based programming were identified as areas of interest; as such, cooking demonstrations, brush painting, the Food4Thought Nutrition Program, and the Expressive Arts Program, were developed. The involvement of medical trainees was essential in creating and sustaining these programs. The ongoing collaborative work has led to eight programs, two publications, and four national conference presentations with more in development.
Conclusions: The Academic-Clubhouse partnership is a promising, sustainable approach to support people with psychosis during their recovery. Further, the collaboration offers medical trainees real-world exposure to the challenges and stigmas faced by individuals with psychosis.