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November 2021 Newsletter
November was National Caregivers Month
November is National Family Caregivers Month (NFCM). There are over 53 million Americans who are unpaid caregivers to family, friends, and neighbors. 27% or nearly a third of adult caregivers are helping someone with a mental illness.

Many caregivers work and provide care, experiencing conflicts between competing responsibilities. Research indicates caregiving also takes a significant emotional, physical, and financial toll. With nearly half of all caregivers over age 50, many are vulnerable to a decline in their own health. Studies show that coordinated support services can reduce caregiver depression, anxiety, and stress, and enable them to provide care longer, which avoids or delays the need for costly institutional care.
This year's theme #CaregiverAnd encourages family caregivers to celebrate the passions and identities that enrich their lives. This is a time to recognize and honor family caregivers across the country.
Supporting Our US Military Veterans
The VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System and UMass Chan Medical School hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 8, to celebrate the opening of a new 48,000-square-foot community-based outpatient clinic for Veterans located on the Medical School’s campus in Worcester.

The clinic will provide Veterans with access to primary and specialty health care in a new space designed for patient-aligned care teams. It will open to its first patients Dec. 15.
iSPARC honors and thanks the 19.3 million U.S. military Veterans for their service.

Faculty at UMass Chan Medical School and iSPARC have conducted research for the Veterans Health Administration and worked closely with the VA Bedford Healthcare System to improve services and outcomes for Veterans.

A particular effort has been the development and testing of supports for Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who are trying to advance their education “The Veteran Supported Education Treatment Manual (VetSEd)”
Hot Off the Press: iSPARC's 2021 Annual Report
In FY21, iSPARC continued to leveraged the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health's (DMH) investment to rapidly translate research findings into best practices for individuals with lived experience, their families, and the providers who serve them across the Commonwealth. These successes were maintained throughout a particularly challenging year—one in which iSPARC staff and faculty spent the entire fiscal year working on a primarily remote basis. This year has been a critical lesson for iSPARC in how to effectively “work together, apart.”
2021 report cover. blue with isparc dmh and umass chan logos. cartoon photo of flat globe with people at work stations connected by dotted lines
What's Happening in Our Centers
Using Social Media to Improve Knowledge Translation (KT) in Your Employment Research & Practice
On Nov. 3rd, the KT Academy at CeKTER held a training help participants utilize social media to disseminate information more effectively and enhance education and stakeholder engagement. The training was for NIDILRR grantees working to improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Watch the first 90-minute session and learn the unique benefits of social media to share your employment research work among your stakeholders and improve engagement.
Deaf Yes Is Hiring!
Deaf Yes! is looking for a part-time Clinical Research Coordinator I to support two key research projects: "Sign Here" and "Deaf MET (Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Deaf clients). Interested? View the job opportunity details.
Nancy Byatt, DO, MS, MBA, FACLP winner of the MONA Medal for Research
Last month, Lifeline for Moms Executive Director, Dr. Nancy Byatt, was awarded the MONA (Marce of North America) Medal of Research at their annual conference for her work in perinatal mental health.
Self-Care is important for all especially for caregivers. Our tipsheet "Self-Care is Putting on YOUR Oxygen Mask First" offers key advice from our Family Advisory Board members who are caregivers of young people with serious mental health conditions.

Want to make an impact in mental health research? FAB is looking for new members. See our Family Advisory Page for more information.
When a mental health crisis hit Irene's family, it was completely unexpected so no one had the coping skills needed. Everything was going smoothly, and then suddenly...it wasn't. After one particularly hard day, Irene realized she had to take care of herself or else things were not going to end well. Irene tells her story of what happened, the tools she came to find and use to maintain her own well-being, and how that, in turn, helped her family member as well.
Nov. 18th was the Great American Smokeout
white hands with handcuffs on one wrist and pack of cigarette on the other. Second hand has clippers cutting the handcuff chain
Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, the The Central MA Tobacco-Free Community Partnership's (CMTFCP)'s mission is to reduce the health and economic burden of tobacco use by preventing young people from starting to use tobacco and nicotine products, helping current tobacco and nicotine users to quit, protecting children and adults from secondhand smoke, and identifying and eliminating tobacco-related disparities. Learn more and follow them on Facebook.com/CMTFCP.
The Facts:

  • It is estimated that 35% of cigarette smokers have a behavioral health disorder and account for 38% of all U.S. adult cigarette consumption.

  • Despite the national cigarette smoking rate being 14% overall among adults, it is 23% for individuals with a behavioral health disorder.

  • Lifetime smoking rates are higher in patients who are diagnosed with major depression disorder (59%), bipolar disorder (83%), or schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (90%) compared to 32% among adults with no mental illness.
We're Hiring!

Administrative Assistant II: coordinates and performs a variety of complex administrative duties independently with minimal direction.

Faculty Health Equity Cluster: UMass Chan and the Dept. of Psychiatry are recruiting faculty from underrepresented groups in medicine who do health equity research! This is part of an institutional cluster recruitment initiative that aims to increase representation from underrepresented groups in medicine across several areas of research.

Postdoctoral Fellowships: We are currently looking to fill two (2) two-year, full-time postdoctoral fellowships to support promising scholars for a clinical investigation track and psychiatric rehabilitation track.

Research Project Director: Under the general direction of the Principal Investigator or designee, the Research Project Director is responsible for coordinating the daily operations of research studies.

Upcoming Events

• Date: Dec 1, 2021

• Date: Jan 18, 2022

• Date: Feb 11-12, 2022
Who We Are
As a MA Department of Mental Health Research Center of Excellence, we are here to help the MA DMH workforce with any Technical Assistance (TA) needs they may have by providing information based on research. iSPARC can provide expertise and information on a wide range of mental health-related topics. We provide Basic TA (e.g., tip sheets, brief phone consultation, etc.) at no cost and can provide more intensive TA (e.g., policy development, training, etc.) which requires approval of your area director or deputy commissioner, or for a fee.
The Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center is a part of UMass Chan Medical School (formerly the University of Massachusetts Medical School) Department of Psychiatry. 

iSPARC is a Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Center of Excellence (COE) for Public Mental Health Services and Implementation Research that aims to improve the mental and behavioral health of all citizens of Massachusetts and beyond. iSPARC is committed to transferring knowledge and insights gained through rigorous research to improve the lives of people with lived mental health experience.

We conduct Participatory Action Research, an all-inclusive approach that ensures that every aspect of our research incorporates the voices of those with lived mental health experience.
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