Methods Core

Nathan S. Kline Institute For Psych Res, Orangeburg NY

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The overall charge to this Core is to tackle the "work of specification" at the level of[unreadable] research practice needed to apply CF to recovery in social contexts. In the opening year we undertake the[unreadable] foundational work needed before measures and study designs can be developed for CF-informed research,[unreadable] and provide oversight and consultation for active and proposed projects. The MC will work in concert with the[unreadable] Capabilities Seminar (OC) and investigators in PRC to translate CF into a conceptual model suitable for[unreadable] MHSR. Specifying the model for psychiatric disabilities provides the groundwork to develop next stage[unreadable] methods and metrics. It will also enable us to import social science theory to further develop the descriptive[unreadable] and assessment tools needed to appraise capabilities, choice and environments that foster them in a mental[unreadable] health context. Year 1 projects apply economics and social/community psychology theories to CF.[unreadable] The aims of the Methods Core are to:[unreadable] 1. Specify and operationalize key constructs and propositions in CF as applied to psychiatric disability;[unreadable] 2. Use social science theory to translate elements of CF for this purpose - first, Grossman's Health[unreadable] Capital Model from economics and environmental assessment from social and community psychology;[unreadable] 3. Ensure the scientific rigor of Center projects by assessing research designs, reviewing ongoing[unreadable] projects, and providing consultation on design and analyses to Center affiliates and the OC; and[unreadable] 4. Evaluate the Center's CBPR process on an ongoing and formal basis.[unreadable] MC activities begin with 3 projects alongside ongoing oversight and consultation to both active pilots and[unreadable] others in development in CS. The lead project specifies CF for psychiatric disability, using mixed methods and[unreadable] the Center's participatory process to develop a rigorous language for capturing the distinctive value added by[unreadable] CF to MHSR, and to consider study designs and measurement options appropriate to the framing constraints[unreadable] of capabilities. A second project constructs a template for applying social science theory to CF in a[unreadable] participatory context, applying Becker's human capital approach to the demand for (mental) health. A third[unreadable] project uses theory in community psychology to explore characteristics of environments that foster two[unreadable] fundamental capabilities (self-determination and affiliation) for people with severe mental illness; this pilot[unreadable] explicitly addresses tradeoffs, an underdeveloped aspect of CF, and is geared to drafting a full research[unreadable] proposal to develop the environmental metrics. In out years, as expertise and empirical database allow, we will[unreadable] build on the initial conceptual work to design studies, develop measures and apply social science theory to CF.[unreadable] Prospects include sociological theory on status reduction and stigma, which captures the moral dimension of[unreadable] capability deprivation [100; 141]; or using political theory to operationalize "recognition" - a vital element in the[unreadable] identity politics that have taken shape in the consumer/survivor wing of the recovery movement [232].[unreadable]