CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston will run a five-year, $16.4 million study aimed at getting more teenagers who survived an assault into treatment for both post-traumatic stress and substance use.
The money comes from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a nonprofit that pays for research comparing how well different medical approaches work for patients.
MUSC professors Rochelle F. Hanson and Michael R. McCart will lead the work. It centers on Risk Reduction Through Family Therapy, a treatment built for young people dealing with trauma and drug or alcohol problems at the same time. The researchers will test two delivery models against each other: a learning collaborative for clinicians alone, and one that also brings in caregivers.
The need is real, according to the institute. Teens with PTSD can act recklessly, lash out in anger or struggle to sleep, and they are less likely than other age groups to get behavioral health care.
The team plans to work with 60 child advocacy centers around the country to find out which approach spreads the therapy more widely.
Filed under: Charleston SC Health News
