A university-agency mental health research collaboration: a case example.
There is significant documentation in the literature of barriers that may prevent research results from being utilized by agencies to inform and impact practice and policy. Such barriers pertain to several factors as follows: (a) those related to the nature of the research enterprise itself (b) those related to differences between the producers and consumers of research, and (c) barriers arising from the differences in organizational contexts of researchers and case management and supported employment agency staff. This article discusses a collaborative relationship between university researchers and agency practitioners in the context of a research project studying the implementation of supported employment, an evidence-based practice. As a case example, it provides an exemplar of the problems and issues of conducting mental health research with community-based agencies and offers strategies and case examples that address these issues.
Biegel
David E
DE
Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. david.biegel@case.edu
Kola
Lenore A
LA
Meeks
David
D
Stevenson
Lauren
L
Beimers
David
D
D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D016832:Employment, Supported / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration; D014495:Universities