News | College of Public Health

Could peer support help workers stay safe from COVID?

Peer support is a health intervention through which an individual receives guidance from a person who has lived with a similar condition—someone who can share first-person understanding and strategies that a clinician often can’t. Peer support may be given in group or one-on-one settings, by people who share a wide range of health conditions, including intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). “It’s underutilized, but research has identified that when peer support is provided by individuals with IDD, it can be quite effective,...

Research

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

$2.5 million grant to study 'mattering' as health issue for people with disability

Bryan McCormick, professor in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, has been awarded a $2.5 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) to develop interventions that reduce social isolation and loneliness among people with serious mental illness (SMI). “The rates of loneliness among this population are remarkably high compared to other adults,” McCormick says. “Feeling of loneliness and experiencing social isolation are more than a negative emotional experience. There is evi...

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Recreational Therapy

Research

The social impact of COVID-19 on people with ASD

Community social participation can be an important quality-of-life issue for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Community integration—taking part in work, school and recreational activities—is challenging even when there isn’t a pandemic. A new College of Public Health study shows that COVID-19 made it especially difficult for individuals with ASD, limiting their transportation options and ability to access needed services. “This population has far more barriers already,” says Beth Pfeiffer, associate professor of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, wh...

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Research

DEI Speaker Series panel discusses actions to address structural racism

On October 26, 2020, Philadelphia police fatally shot Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man, after his family had called for an ambulance because he was having a mental health crisis. Wallace, who had a history of such episodes, held a knife. The killing set off angry protests in the city. It also spurred conversations about the intersection between structural racism in policing and the often inadequate way that cities handle emergency response to mental health situations. In January, a panel of Temple faculty and guest experts discussed these issues in a video webinar...

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Social justice

Alumni

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

'Managing Diabetes in Disability' program takes peer-driven approach

An innovative proposal from Temple’s College of Public Health is one of five community-based programs selected to receive funding to combat diabetes and obesity in Philadelphia. Cities Changing Diabetes will provide seed funding to a project proposed by Gretchen Snethen, Bryan McCormick, Shivayogi Hiremath and Ann Dolloff of the College of Public Health. Their plan, “Developing a Peer and Community Approach for Managing Diabetes in Disability” is aimed at training peers and using community resources to help people with physical and intellectual disabilities manage their...

Physical Activity

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Disability

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

'Collaborative' fosters community inclusion from a distance

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion is built around the principle that participating in community activities is vital for people with serious mental illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The near-complete shutdown of group events and public spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic has struck at the heart of its mission. So the Collaborative needed to get creative. Pulling together its connections across the country, the Collaborative has created a national conversation around community participation. In late March, the Coll...

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Coronavirus

Community

Thomas co-authors guidebook on early psychosis and substance use

Substance use is a major problem among young people who are experiencing early psychosis, but there’s been little guidance to help healthcare professionals work with patients who are dealing with these issues together. Now, Elizabeth Thomas, a research assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has shared her expertise by co-authoring a new government-published guidebook on the subject. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has made First-Episode Psychosis and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders available for dow...

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Substance Use

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Review finds common pitfalls in post-hospital care for people with SMI

Successfully easing back into the commotion of everyday life is challenging for people discharged from hospitals. For people with serious mental illness (SMI), like schizophrenia or major depression, the period immediately after discharge can be a high-risk moment for homelessness, unemployment and loneliness. Absence of well-coordinated care after discharge often leads to a return trip to the hospital. “The phenomenon is common in many chronic conditions, but especially for people with SMI,” says Yaara Zisman-Ilani, an investigator at Temple’s Collaborative on Communit...

Mental Health

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Social and Behavioral Sciences