About Us

The Temple University Collaborative

The Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities is a Rehabilitation Research and Training Center, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to conduct state-of-the-art research and knowledge translation activities to improve opportunities for community inclusion of people with psychiatric disabilities.

Directed by Mark Salzer, Ph.D. Professor and Chair of Temple University’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Temple University Collaborative seeks to:

target obstacles that prevent people with psychiatric disabilities from fully participating in their communities;
develop the services and supports consumers and communities need to promote full integration into all aspects of community life; and
expand the range of opportunities for people who have psychiatric disabilities to participate in their communities as active, equal members.

The Temple University Collaborative (formerly the UPenn Collaborative)is based at Temple University’s new Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. Partially driven by the mission of the Collaborative, the focus of the new Department is on the promotion of full community participation of individuals with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on individuals with psychiatric disabilities. The new Department is Temple’s response to the increasing recognition by providers, consumers, administrators, and policymakers of the importance of community participation in promoting both the health and wellness of persons with disabilities and the economic and social health of community life.

Mission - It is the mission of the Temple University Collaborative to:

conduct rigorous research aimed at developing practical technologies for maximizing community participation and independent living of individuals with psychiatric disabilities; and
work in partnership with all stakeholders, especially persons in recovery, to ensure that current research findings in this area are utilized in national, regional, and local behavioral health policies, supports, and practices

Our Research Agenda

The Temple University Collaborative’s mission responds to the goals of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), which seeks to “generate new knowledge and promote its effective use to improve the abilities of people with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community.” NIDRR provides support for its Rehabilitation Research & Training Centers to conduct new research to improve rehabilitation methodology and service delivery.

The Temple University Collaborative conducts state-of-the-art research to identify barriers and strategies for promoting community inclusion, full participation, and the recovery of persons with serious psychiatric disabilities. Research efforts of the Collaborative include projects focused on:

developing the concepts of and measurement for community participation;
identifying the barriers in various domains that limit opportunity and full participation; &
studying the interventions that address barriers and provide supportive interventions related to the promotion of community opportunities for full participation.

The research initiatives of the Temple University Collaborative (RRTC) are a mix of randomized controlled studies, secondary data analyses, and qualitative research endeavors, collectively designed to build a stronger research, policy, and intervention knowledge base for the promotion of community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities.

Our current research projects include:

a randomized controlled study of a peer-delivered supports for persons with co-occurring psychiatric and physical/sensory disabilities;
a study of environmental influences on community participation, using Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies;
a randomized, controlled, multisite trial of the effectiveness of supported education for postsecondary students with psychiatric disabilities;
a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of self-directed care, within a Medicaid-funding environment, on participation and community living;
a randomized, controlled trial of an ‘inoculation against discrimination’ training intervention for African Americans with psychiatric disabilities;
a mixed methods study of the community living needs of individuals with psychiatric disabilities who are newly released from jail;
a test of the reliability of three community participation measures for adults with psychiatric disabilities, using two administration approaches; and
a randomized, controlled study of the impact of an internet-based parenting intervention for mothers with psychiatric disabilities.

To learn more about our current research projects, please refer to the research drop-down menu.

Our Knowledge Translation Activities

One of the core functions of the Temple University Collaborative is to ensure that current research knowledge in the field reaches consumers, providers, and funders in effective ways that can impact public policies, program design, and the knowledge base and skills of practitioners in the field. Our Knowledge Translation (KT) activities include both specific training and technical assistance activities detailed in the initial proposal and an evolving mix of consultations and engagements that are responsive to requests from the field:

Our current KT activities include:

development and testing of a work-based learning curriculum to improve practitioner skills in the delivery of community inclusion services and supports;
dissemination of a Fact Sheet to support staff in Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in the delivery of services/supports to CIL consumers with psychiatric disabilities;
training for consumer-operated programs to encourage the development of services/supports for consumers that promote increased community inclusion;
sponsorship of the Second International Conference on Community Inclusion (September 2011) to review current research and innovative programming; and
technical assistance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the development of new state standards to promote the expansion of supported employment services.

The Temple University Collaborative responds to the field through:

maintenance of this website, quarterly publication of our newsletter, and online courses focusing on a wide range of topics related to community inclusion;
publications, papers, presentations, and print products on community inclusion, all available through the ‘resources’ section of this website;
technical assistance to the field to explore the costs and cost effectiveness of services and supports promoting community inclusion;
systematic reviews of the literature to identify best practices in the development of community inclusion programming; and
training and technical assistance programs, available upon request, in short-term formats, in onsite settings, and in ongoing consultations around program and policy development.

Training and technical assistance is available from the Temple University Collaborative on a wide range of topics: the principles and practices of community inclusion; overcoming the policy and program barriers to community inclusion; innovative program models – for both traditional and consumer-operated agencies – promoting community inclusion; managing the risks associated with community inclusion; and the development of research and evaluation measures to assess community participation, integration, and inclusion outcomes; among other topics.

Collaborators

The Temple University Collaborative works in close partnership with both the National Mental Health Consumers Self-Help Clearinghouse (at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania) and Horizon House, Inc., both in Philadelphia.

The National Mental Health Consumers Self-Help Clearinghouse is one of the first national consumer technical assistance centers established within the United States. Based within the consumer movement, the Clearinghouse serves as an advocate for respect, opportunities, and empowerment for individuals with mental illnesses, and provides training, technical assistance, and consultation to consumer operated services throughout the country. The organization takes pride both in its own array of consumer-driven services and its extensive collection of resources to assist other programs around the country. To learn more about the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse, please visit: http://www.mhselfhelp.org/index.php.

Horizon House, Inc. has provided innovative, community-based services throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware since it was founded in 1952. One of a earliest of the agencies in the field of psychiatric rehabilitation, Horizon House, Inc. places particular emphasis on individual strengths and personal choice in its work with adults experiencing a variety of psychiatric or developmental disabilities, addictions, and/or homelessness. The programs of Horizon House, Inc. emphasize recovery and community inclusion of individuals with disabilities, and the agency is a regional leader in the development of effective programs in the field. To learn more about Horizon House, Inc. please visit:http://www.hhinc.org/.

The Temple University Collaborative also works closely with its National Leadership Committee (NLC), with representatives of consumer, family, provider, and research leaders in the field. The NLC annually identifies emerging research and knowledge translation needs and asks the Temple University Collaborative staff to develop responsive activities. Current NLC projects focus on the role of peer specialists in three areas: in promoting community inclusion in rural settings, in working with religious/spiritual organizations, and in assisting consumers in returning to work.

In addition, to achieve our mission, the Temple University Collaborative also works closely with researchers, consumers, advocates, providers and policy-makers from the following organizations (among others):

Overview of Community Inclusion

The Temple University Collaborative seeks to promote “the opportunity for people with psychiatric disabilities to live in the community, and be valued for their uniqueness and abilities, like everyone else.” Our goals embody a commitment to insuring greater participation in community life for people with psychiatric disabilities as they integrate into mainstream activities, in addition to the development of a stronger commitment on the part of communities to be more inventive and inclusive in their efforts to reach out to people with psychiatric disabilities.

We seek to promote community inclusion to ensure that rights become reality. The Collaborative will lead the mental health field in identifying and eliminating barriers to and developing supports for community inclusion outcomes, designed to bring about meaningful changes in the lives of people with psychiatric disabilities.

Community inclusion goals promote the engagement of people with psychiatric disabilities in the full array of community domains: housing, employment, education, leisure/recreation, social roles, peer support, health status, citizenship, self-determination, and religion/spirituality – and more. Community integration should result in an expanded community presence and participation of people with psychiatric disabilities, similar to that of all others without a disability label (Salzer, 2006):

Citation for diagram: Salzer, M.S. (2006). Introduction. In M.S. Salzer (ed.), Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills in Practice: A CPRP Preparation and Skills Workbook. Columbia, MD.: United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association.

For more information about the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of People with Psychiatric Disabilities, contact us at:

Katy Kaplan, Assistant Director
katy.kaplan@temple.edu
Phone: 215-204-6779
Fax: 215-204-3700

Mailing Address:
The Temple University Collaborative
on Community Inclusion Of People with Psychiatric Disabilities
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
1700 N. Broad Street
Suite 313, Box #062-62
Philadelphia, PA 19122