The work of Dr. Piper Meyer-Kalos, executive director of The Minnesota Center for Chemical and Mental Health (MNCAMH) in the School of Social Work, has been receiving attention in the news recently.

The CEHD 2020 Vision blog featured an article about her work on the first episodes of psychosis in people who go on to develop schizophrenia. She saw firsthand that those with schizophrenia are underserved, and that the access to mental health treatment is something that isn’t talked about enough. The Recovery After Initial Schizophrenia Episodes (RAISE) project was created in 2009 in response to research and other early intervention programs that had been developed in other countries. Meyer-Kalos was apart of the RAISE Early Treatment Program, which developed into NAVIGATE. The goal of NAVIGATE is to study a combination of psychosocial treatment and medication management over a period of time, with a focus on the improvement of the quality of life. The results of the study were that those that participated in NAVIGATE saw larger improvements in the quality of their life. They had greater participation in work and school, experienced fewer overall symptoms, and were able to stay in treatment longer.

Meyer-Kalos also commented in a Minnesota Public Radio story about the Minnesota chapter of the Hearing Voices Network. The story featured a member of MNCAMH’s advisory council, Albert Garcia, who founded the state chapter of the network in 2013.

For more about MNCAMH and Meyer-Kalos, see the center’s website.