It’s rare to have a chance to contribute to such a long line of research, one that has included several faculty members of the Dartmouth Health’s psychiatry department who have been pioneers in doing this work.
Kelly A. Aschbrenner, PhDA team of researchers from Dartmouth Health and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth recently received a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, a program of the National Institutes of Health, to investigate how well an evidence-based intervention in community health organizations across the United States can be sustained.
The five-year grant will build on work started in 2001 by Dartmouth researchers to evaluate InSHAPE, a program developed in Keene, NH, to increase the life expectancy of people who have or are at risk of developing severe and persistent mental illness, by providing resources and supports to reduce the risks of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and substance abuse. InSHAPE has since been implemented at multiple locations nationwide.
Adults with serious and disabling mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, die about 10-25 years earlier than the rest of the population. This is mostly due to cardiovascular risk factors that can be addressed with behavioral lifestyle changes.
“These interventions have been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk in adults with serious mental illness, even among those taking antipsychotic medications,” said Kelly A. Aschbrenner, PhD, a principal scientist at Dartmouth Health and associate professor of psychiatry at Geisel, who is serving as principal investigator on the study. “But it has been unclear how well interventions are sustained once research projects are completed.”
For their new study, Aschbrenner’s team will leverage previously collected data to study the different elements that predict long-term sustainment of InSHAPE and its health benefits, as well as collect new data. The study team will collaborate with InSHAPE teams nationwide to develop a sustainment guide for future research and practice. While the guide will be based on InSHAPE, it will include key considerations for sustaining evidence-based health promotion programs more broadly in mental health organizations.
“It’s rare to have a chance to contribute to such a long line of research, one that has included several faculty members of the Dartmouth Health’s psychiatry department who have been pioneers in doing this work,” Aschbrenner said. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to carry it forward and to see what this new chapter will bring.”
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.