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DAYVILLE — United Services of Connecticut, serving all of northeastern Connecticut, has been selected to participate in a research study known as the RAISE Early Treatment Program (ETP). United Services is one of 35 locations in the U.S. that will be carrying out ETP, a study looking at the best ways to help people in the earliest stages of schizophrenia reduce their likelihood of experiencing long-term disability.
The ETP study is part of the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) Project. ETP is one of two research teams that NIMH has funded under the RAISE Project, which aims to intervene at the earliest signs of schizophrenia. RAISE seeks to develop interventions that can be tested in real-world treatment settings and be quickly put into practice should they prove successful.
“We are pleased to have United Services as a member of the ETP team. We believe that the participation of United Services and its staff is essential to the success of ETP and RAISE,” said ETP Director John Kane, M.D., of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, NY.
ETP is recruiting people between the ages of 16 and 40 who are experiencing the early stages of schizophrenia and related disorders. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, and strange thinking patterns. The study will compare two different ways of providing treatment. Both treatments are designed to provide a person with treatment soon after he or she experiences the early signs of schizophrenia. Participants will be offered mental health services such as medication and psychosocial therapy. These strategies are all aimed at promoting symptom reduction and improving life functioning.
Schizophrenia and related illnesses often strike young people in the prime of life, however, many people do not seek treatment until they have had severe symptoms for a long time. Although the exact causes of the disease have not yet been determined, current treatments can help people with schizophrenia live independent and fulfilling lives in their communities. For more information visit www.UnitedServicesCT.org