The Center for Mental Health Research and Innovation in Treatment Engagement and Service (MH-RITES Center) at the Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston is an international multidisciplinary research center focused on improving treatment engagement and outcomes for those experiencing mental health concerns. Established in 2017, the mission of the MH-RITES Center is to drive empirically supported and evidence-based innovation that achieves optimal treatment access and engagement in mental health services by individuals and families who need them, specifically in historically marginalized communities. This article describes the history and guiding principles, organizational structure, funding sources, and physical resources of the MH-RITES Center while highlighting completed, ongoing, and future projects supporting the Center's mission.
BrownJ.Evans-LackoS.AschanL.HendersonM. J.HatchS. L.HotopfM. (2014). Seeking informal and formal help for mental health problems in the community: A secondary analysis from a psychiatric morbidity survey in South London. BMC Psychiatry, 14(1), 275. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-014-0275-y
2.
CorriganP. W.WatsonA. C. (2002). Understanding the impact of stigma on people with mental illness. World Psychiatry, 1(1), 16–20. PMCID: PMC1489832.
3.
DubreucqJ.PlasseJ.FranckN. (2021). Self-stigma in serious mental illness: A systematic review of frequency, correlates, and consequences. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 47(5), 1261–1287. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbaa181
4.
FarooqS.NaeemF. (2014). Tackling nonadherence in psychiatric disorders: Current opinion. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 10, 1069–1077. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S40777
5.
GearingR. E.SchwalbeC. S.ShortK. D. (2012). Adolescent adherence to psychosocial treatment: Mental health clinicians’ perspectives on barriers and promoters. Psychotherapy Research, 22(3), 317–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2011.653996
6.
GearingR. E.TownsendL.ElkinsJ.El-BasselN.OsterbergL. (2014). Strategies to predict, measure, and improve psychosocial treatment adherence. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 22(1), 31–45. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.10.1097/HRP.0000000000000005
7.
GearingR. E.TownsendL.MacKenzieM. J.CharachA. (2011). Reconceptualizing medication adherence: Six phases of dynamic adherence. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 19(4), 177–189. https://doi.org/10.3109/10673229.2011.602560
8.
GibelmanM (1995). What social workers do. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
9.
HeislerE. J. (2018). The Mental Health Workforce: A Primer. Congressional Research Service: CRS Report. U.S. Government. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43255.pdf.
10.
HendersonC.Evans-LackoS.ThornicroftG. (2013). Mental illness stigma, help seeking, and public health programs. American Journal of Public Health, 103(5), 777–780. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301056
11.
KesslerR. C.BerglundP.DemlerO.JinR.MerikangasK. R.WaltersE. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593
National Council on Patient Information and Education (1989). Children and medicines. NCPIE.
14.
OlfsonM. (2016). Building the mental health workforce capacity needed to treat adults with serious mental illnesses. Health Affairs, 35(6), 983–990. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1619
15.
RösslerW. (2016). The stigma of mental disorders: A millennia-long history of social exclusion and prejudices. EMBO Reports, 17(9), 1250–1253. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.201643041
16.
Savani (2020). A grounded theory study of suicide attempts in Badakhshan: A renewed commitment to life [PhD Dissertation, University ofHouston]. https://uh-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/10657/6729/SAVANI-DISSERTATION-2020.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y].
17.
SavaniS.GearingR. (2022in press). ‘I didn’t do it!’ Lived experiences of suicide attempts made without perceived intent or volition in transcultural psychiatry. Transcultural Psychiatry.
18.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2012). Behavioral Health, United States. (Department of Health and Human Services Publication No. SMA 13-4797). https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma13-4797.pdf
