Clin-STAR Awardee Spotlight
Karen L. Fortuna, PhD, LICSW
Dartmouth College, Geisel School of Medicine
Psychiatry
Clin-STAR Transdisciplinary Aging Research Pilot Grant- 2021
National Workforce of Certified Older Adult Peer Support Specialists to Support Older Adults Remotely
High rates of medical co-morbidities, earlier onset of disease, and premature mortality among older persons with serious mental illness (SMI) suggests the need for integrated medical and psychiatric self-management interventions. To improve patient outcomes and reduce costs, researchers have made efforts to facilitate self-management with technology. Evidence indicates that telehealth-integrated medical and psychiatric self-management can lead to improvements in medical co-morbidities, psychiatric instability, and to reductions in services utilization among older adults with SMI. The combination of mobile technology and certified older adult peer supporters can support the delivery of a medical, psychiatric, and social health self-management intervention (SOAR). The purpose of this award is to build the necessary expertise to pursue a career developing and testing novel approaches to support older adults with SMI. This pilot study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness of SOAR compared to treatment as usual with N=40 adults with SMI and chronic health conditions.
Pilot Mentor
Carolyn Turvey, PhD, MS
University of Iowa
Research Interests: Psychology
Research Key Words:
- Digital peer support
- Serious mental illness
- Older adults
- Early mortality
Age-related disease or conditions studied in pilot:
- Early mortality, serious mental illness
Impact of pilot:
- Clinical
- Psychosocial
Clin-STAR Grantee Interview
How did you first find out about Clin-STAR and the pilot grant program?
I was searching online for opportunities for early career investigator programs and I came across Clin-STAR.
What inspired you to pursue aging research and how does your perspective as a non-geriatrician specialist contribute to your research activity?
My background is in social work. I went into this field because my dad had multiple sclerosis and he was very sick as I was growing up. People treated him like he was different just because he was in a wheelchair. I would say he was marginalized, but, to me, he was always just my dad-- not different, not helpless, one of the most amazing and capable people I have ever known in my life. So, here I am. Working with peer support specialists that may have at one point in their life been viewed as “different” or “helpless” and I work with peer support specialists to accomplish things they maybe never thought possible. One of the things we wish to accomplish is reducing the years of life lost in older adults with serious mental illness and chronic health conditions, through providing tools for illness self-management. This population experiences mortality on average 30 years earlier than individuals without serious mental illness.
In your view, what does Clin-STAR mean to the field and what does it mean for you to receive a Clin-STAR pilot grant now?
This is an opportunity to help advance the field for one of the most vulnerable populations of older adults, and also provides an immeasurable opportunity for myself as an early career investigator.
What’s exciting about your research’s potential impact to your career, field, and patients?
What is most exciting about my research’s potential impact to the field is this research has the potential to increase the lifespan of people with serious mental illness.
How have you collaborated with your mentor or co-investigators?
Our team utilizes a co-design approach to research. Co-design is a partnership in research that promotes shared decision making in all aspects of the research process. Our model, the Peer and Academic Partnership, supports collaboration, engagement, shared decision-making, principles of reciprocal relationships, co-learning, partnership, trust, transparency, and honesty. We use this co-design approach because peer support specialists bring new insights and energy to our research that our team believes will lead to the next discovery in the social sciences.