Jessica Kramer, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences professor will use the $50,000 in funding she received earlier this month to identify research priorities regarding mental health in young adults. Kramer is teaming up with The Arc, an organization dedicated to supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to carry out her research.
The funding was provided by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, according to Sargent Dean Christopher Moore, which offers federal research funding for topics regarding health care. Kramer, a professor of occupational therapy, will head the project, along with collaborators at The Arc.
The project will work toward developing a working cooperative system between young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and researchers, according to Kramer, in order to be able to determine priorities for them when it comes to mental health issues and to try to improve their well-being.
“The intention [of the project] is to build a national partnership between young adults, their families, service providers, and researchers to identify mental health research priorities for young adults with I/DD and co-occurring mental illness,” Kramer wrote in an email.
Kramer added that the goal was to “establish a sustainable partnership to engage in patient-driven mental health research that will improve care and facilitate the lifelong [well-being] of people with I/DD.”
The project collaborators intend to form an advisory board, according to Kramer, made up of multiple mental health professionals as well as “a family representative and [five] young adults with I/DD who have a co-occurring mental illness.” They also hope to represent people with disabilities and family representatives from each state in the country.
The collaborators want to host monthly meetings in which the researchers and patients alike can discuss priorities, Kramer wrote, as well as virtual and in-person town hall meetings to gain more input.
Kramer’s work will offer new opportunities for lines of research, Moore said, aiding both researchers in the field and patients who will benefit from said research.
“[Kramer’s] work gives access to people who might previously have been closed out of the opportunities that the world presents,” Moore said.
One of the highlights of the project, Moore said, is the fact that it partners researchers with patients in order to identify areas where research is lacking.
Moore said he appreciates the focus that the institute puts on centering research around patients, a value that he said is very important at Sargent.
“The great thing that Dr. Kramer is doing is she is working with patients who are facing challenges and who can benefit immediately from the really groundbreaking solutions that she works on,” Moore said. “She works much closer to the patients than many [other] researchers who are funded by federal dollars.”
Several students said they think this kind of project aligns well with BU’s focus on research, and that the outcomes of this project could help make strides in the field of research surrounding mental illness.
Skylar Shumate, a Sargent freshman, said she thinks this project could help stimulate more conversation regarding this body of research.
“A big portion of addressing the issue of mental illness is just talking about it,” Shumate said, “so I think that the kind of research that really puts a focus on it is going to do a lot of good just because then it starts the conversation.”
Syed Rashid, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he is glad a BU professor is involved in a project as important as this one, but that it would have been a good idea to allow BU students to participate in the project.
“Developmental issues, especially among young adults, and mental health are important,” Rashid said. “As a BU student, it would be better if there was a more administrative direction for this initiative and [if] they [did] something to integrate this research into the campus’ mental health responses.”
Divya Navani, a freshman in Sargent, said she thinks BU’s focus on research, as well as the resources it provides, make it a fitting place for the project to have its roots.
“It really shows that we are one of the best research institutions in the country,” Navani said, “and we are able to take topics that others might shy away from because they’re not scared of doing research that is groundbreaking.”
