News Worthy

Consumer Operated Services Project (COSP) Update

Mark Salzer, Ph.D.

Congratulations to All Involved in Making the Research A Success!!

As many of you know the Friends Connection of Philadelphia is involved in an exciting national study that is examining the impact of consumer-operated services. Enrollment for this study ended in September 2001 and we are proud to announce that we were successful in recruiting 127 people!! This was quite an effort and we are thankful to many of you who assisted us in this accomplishment. Special thanks goes out to all the case management agencies for their patience and participation in this important effort, the dedicated staff of the Targeted Case Management Unit, as well as Friends Connection staff (especially Terrence Means and Bill Burns-Lynch), and of course the consumers who have been willing to help contribute to our understanding of Friends Connection.

Getting people involved is always one of the hardest parts of conducting studies like this, but keeping people involved is just as challenging. All of our attention is now focused on interviewing those enrolled in the study once every four months. Completing these interviews is critical to our ability to maintain the success of this study. Consumers have been very enthusiastic about these follow-up interviews so far, and we expect the enthusiasm to continue into the future.

It is still too early in the project to report any results. However, the local research team has been actively involved both locally and nationally in various efforts pertaining to Friends Connection. Friends Connection staff and Dr. Mark Salzer from the University of Pennsylvania who is working with them on this project have been quite busy making presentations about Friends Connection and their participation in this research, as well as their experiences as a participant in this national study. They have also written a chapter about Friends Connection for a book about consumer-operated services and are actively involved in other writing efforts. Dr. Salzer and a colleague also have published an article in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal that was based on interviews conducted with Friends Connection staff. This article, among other things, found that while the focus of the program is on assisting program participants in their recovery, Friends Connection staff also benefit in many ways.

We look forward to continued success with this project that will ultimately lead to better services and outcomes for persons with co-occurring disorders and other mental health problems. For more information about this project contact Terrence Means at 215-599-4011, extension 4 or Dr. Mark Salzer at 215-349-8483.