About The Dartmouth PRC
The PRC was established in 1987 as a public-academic liaison involving the New Hampshire Division of Behavioral Health and the Dartmouth Medical School. Initial research in New Hampshire focused on integrating case management and substance abuse services, and on integrating vocational and mental health services. In the early 1990's, the PRC expanded beyond New Hampshire and replicated its earlier findings through research in urban settings in Connecticut and Washington, DC. In the late 1990's, the PRC developed new research areas; further developed existing programs; enhanced economics, statistics, and data management capacity; developed a greater number of research collaborations around the country; and enhanced junior faculty support and training. Today the PRC staff are involved in various capacities (e.g., investigators, consultants, trainers) in many states.
Our current areas of research are:
- Implementation of Evidence Based Practices
- Vocational rehabilitation/supported employment
- Services for homeless persons
- Integrated treatment of co-occurring substance abuse
- Services for the elderly
- Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder
- Infectious diseases (including HIV and hepatitis)
- Methodology of services research.
The PRC conducts interdisciplinary research on services for individuals who have serious mental illness, primarily schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorders. The PRC specializes in developing effective interventions under research conditions, then translating these interventions into actual mental health service practices and evaluating their effectiveness in routine practice settings. PRC research incorporates multiple scientific perspectives, such as clinical, economic, and ethnographic. The PRC works with efficacy and services researchers to address the needs of multiple stakeholders through effectiveness research in routine practice settings.
