Clinical Research Directory

Telepsychiatry to Enable Expedited Disposition of Psychiatric Emergencies

The goal of this observational study is to examine the effect of using a video link for evaluation of patients in the psychiatric emergency room. Under current Israeli law, the attending physician must come in to physically examine the patient before they can be admitted involuntarily. Patients often de-compensate and even may become violent while waiting for the attending to arrive. Previous studies have shown that evaluation of such patients via video-link has an extremely high concordance with in person evaluation. This study will compare patients who are evaluated via video-link with historical controls evaluated under usual conditions. This is an observational study, which is taking advantage of a change in practice to collect data on two different ways of delivering care, via chart reviews. If successful, this study will show that the video-link is feasible and acceptable to patients and staff. The following hypotheses will be tested: 1. The intervention will result in shorter ED time compared to historical controls. 2. The intervention will result in fewer violent incidents compared to historical controls. 3. The intervention will result in shorter overall hospital length of stay compared to historical controls.

Text-messaging Intervention to Support Parents After Their Child's Psychiatric Emergency

This grant aims to develop and test a text-messaging intervention for parents of children and teens evaluated in the emergency department for a psychiatric emergency and discharged home with outpatient referrals. The intervention for parents will teach parents skills to navigate the mental health services system and build their self-efficacy in managing their child's mental health. This research has the potential to improve services for families seeking emergency psychiatric support, with the goal of facilitating treatment engagement and reducing emergency services utilization using scalable, cost-effective, accessible tools.

Protocol of an International Delphi Process

The aim of this study is to develop a consensus-based protocol for medical screening in patients presenting with acute psychiatric symptoms. Using the Delphi method, the study seeks to identify which medical evaluations should be performed routinely in this patient population and under what circumstances. By engaging a panel of experts, the study aims to reduce variability in current practice and support the development of a standardized, evidence-informed approach.

Psychoeducational Course for Suicide Prevention

The plan is to include patients with a history of increased risk of suicide. In the aftermath of an episode of imminent suicide risk, patients will receive a psychoeducational course that entails information on different aspects of suicide-related topics, identifying triggers and detecting early warning signals for increased suicide risk. The course culminates in working on completing a individual safety plan to prevent an future increase in suicide risk. The course will incorporate both patients and their next of kin. The psychoeducational course will be compared to a control group where the patients receive one individual session with focus on a safety plan to evaluate the intervention. Both groups will receive treatment as usual (TAU) during both the acute phase and follow-up. The study will be conducted as a randomized controlled trial.