The College of Public Health’s Center for Public Policy and Health (CPPH), was featured at the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) Annual Meeting, held in Boston on November 6- 9, 2022. CPPH’s work that focuses on the early identification and intervention for mental health disorders and substance abuse, was highlighted as part of the APHA’s Thought Leadership video series.
The video highlights CPPH’s efforts to improve public health through innovative approaches thanks to research collaborations and community partnerships with local and national organizations, including CHC Addiction Services, the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County, Portage County public schools, the KSU Department of Computer Science and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
“In the past ten years the Center for Public Policy & Health has secured more than $12 million dollars in federal, state and local funding to do mostly projects focused on the early detection and prevention of substance use and mental health disorders,” says Deric Kenne, Ph.D., professor at the 鶹Ƶ College of Public Health and CPPH interim director.
The CPPH has partnered with CHC Addiction Services to expand medication-assisted treatment services for opioid use disorder in Summit County, and with the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County to provide mental health awareness training to Portage County public school teachers, administrators, and staff. The CPPH is also collaborating with the KSU Department of Computer Science and the New Jersey Institute of Technology to pilot-test and develop approaches to monitoring and detecting substance use and mental health distress among college students through analysis of mobile data.
“If we can detect levels of depression or anxiety early and provide intervention, we know the outcomes will be better,” states Kenne. “The CPPH is developing services and products to fill a gap and have appeal both nationally and internationally. Our collaborations with agencies provide services are extremely important to improve the overall mental health of our communities,” Kenne concludes.
To watch the video and to learn more about the Center for Public Policy & Health visit: www.kent.edu/cpph