Current Projects
Current Projects
- Young Adult Engagement Project, aka ‘Just Do You’ (Application of Experimental Therapeutics)
- Reaching into Communities: A New Paradigm for Preventative Youth Mental Health
- Cornerstone Coordinated Community Care (CCCC)
- Leveraging ‘Big Data’ to Understand Unmet Mental Health Need among Young Adults in New York
- Photovoice for Change (P4C)
Young Adult Engagement Project, aka ‘Just Do You’
(Application of Experimental Therapeutics)
The goal of this project is to test the efficacy of ‘Just Do You’ through a randomized clinical trial. Just Do You is an innovative evidence-informed intervention designed by and with young adults, which has been found to be acceptable, feasible, and practical. It draws upon communication, decision-making, and mental health service use theories in an effort to improve young adults' investment in their mental health and their outcomes. The project has used participatory action research (PAR) throughout the development process with young adults with lived experience joining researchers in decision-making about the intervention and the research.
Our team recently completed an NIMH-funded randomized trial testing the preliminary impact of ‘Just Do You.’ Just Do You is an innovative evidence-informed intervention designed by and with young adults, which has been found to be acceptable, feasible, and practical. It draws upon communication, decision-making, and mental health service use theories in an effort to improve young adults' investment in their mental health and their outcomes. Just Do You uses culturally and developmentally salient modalities to Prepare, Ready, Inspire, Motivate, and Empower (PRIME) young adults as they begin a new treatment experience to engage in their treatment to enhance recovery. The program uses a range of novel, youth-centered strategies that include Conversations (‘mental health related’), Narrative storytelling, Education, Creative arts, and Technology (C-NECT). The project has used participatory action research (PAR) throughout the development process with young adults with lived experience joining researchers in decision-making about the intervention and the research.
Dr. Kiara Moore was recently awarded a NIMH-funded K23 award to adapt and test Just Do You specifically for racially and ethnically minoritized young adults. Dr. Moore is partnering with minoritized young adults with SMI and community mental health providers to adapt Just Do You to make it more relevant and responsive to the young people’s needs. The project is being conducted at an urban, publicly-funded, adult psychiatric rehabilitation program and will enroll 80 young adults. This project involves a pilot study that utilizes the innovative Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to evaluate the adapted intervention for feasibility and preliminary impact on treatment engagement.
Dr. Munson and Aaron Rodwin (Project Director), are actively engaged in providing trainings on the engagement strategies from this novel engagement program. For more information, please contact Dr. Michelle Munson (michelle.munson@nyu.edu).
For more information, please see our publications below and link to the Just Do You website.
Project Director: Aaron Rodwin, LCSW, PhD Candidate
Funding Sources: National Institute of Mental Health, ODMH, New York Community Trust, New York University Research Award
Related Publications
- Rodwin, A. H., Moore, K., Baslock, D., Shimizu, R, & Munson, M. R. (2023). Perspectives on the implementation and collaborative facilitation of an intervention to engage young adults in psychiatric rehabilitation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.
- Rodwin, A. H., Shimizu, R., Banya, M., Moore, K., Bessaha, M., Pahwa, R., Yanos, P. T., & Munson, M. R. (2023). Stigma among historically marginalized young adults with serious mental illnesses: A mixed methods study. Stigma and Health.
Moore, K., Munson, M. R., Shimizu, R., & Rodwin, A. H. (2022). Ethnic identity, stress, and personal recovery outcomes among young adults with serious mental health conditions. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.
- Munson, M.R., Jaccard, J., Moore, K., Rodwin A.H., Shimizu, R., Cole, A., Scott, L., Narendorf, S., Davis, M., Gilmer, T., Stanhope, V. (2022). Impact of a brief intervention to improve engagement in a recovery program for young adults with serious mental illness. Schizophrenia Research, 250, 104-111.
- Munson, M.R., Raghavan, R., Shimizu, R., Rodwin, A.H., Jaccard, J. (2022). Methodologies to advance a “science of how:” Identifying and engaging intervention targets and outcomes. Psychiatric Services, 73(9), 1039-1046.
- Munson, M.R., Jaccard, J., Scott, L.D., Narendorf, S., Moore, K.L., Cole, A.R., Shimizu, R., Rodwin A.H., Jenefsky, N., Davis, M., Gilmer, T. (2021). Outcomes of a meta-intervention to improve treatment engagement among young adults with serious mental illnesses: Application of a pilot randomized explanatory design. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69(5), 790-796.
- Munson, M.R., Jaccard, J., Scott, L.D., Jr., Narendorf, S.C., Moore, K.L., Jenefsky, N., Cole, A.R., Davis, M., Gilmer, T., Shimizu, R., Pleines, K., Cooper, K., Rodwin, A.H., Hylek, L., Amaro, A. (2020). Engagement intervention versus treatment as usual for young adults with serious mental illness: A randomized pilot trial. BMC Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 6(1), 1-14.
- Narendorf, S.C., Glaude, M. & Munson, M.R., Minott, K. & Young B. (2020). Adaptation of a Mental Health Treatment Engagement Intervention for Older Foster Youth. Child and Adolescent Social Work.
- Narendorf, S.C., Glaude, M. & Munson, M.R., Minott, K. & Young B. (accepted for publication, in press). Adaptation of a Mental Health Treatment Engagement Intervention for Older Foster Youth. Child and Adolescent Social Work.
- Raghavan, R., Munson, M.R., & Le, C. (2019). Toward an Experimental Therapeutics Approach in Human Services Research. Psychiatric Services, 70(12), 1130-1137.
- Munson, M.R. & Jaccard, J. (2018). Mental Health Service Use: A Communication Framework for Program Development. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 45(1), 62-80.
- Cole, A.R., Jenefsky, N., Ben-David, S.B., & Munson, M.R. (2018). Feeling Connected and Understood: The Role of Creative Arts in Engaging Young Adults in their Mental Health Services. Social Work with Groups, 41(1-2), 6-20.
- Cole, A., Kim, H., Lotz, K., & Munson, M.R. (2016). Exploring the perceptions of workers on young adult mental health engagement. Social Work in Mental Health, 14(2), 133-148.
- Munson, M.R., Cole, A. Jaccard, J., Kranke, D., Farkas, K., & Frese, F. (2016). An Engagement Intervention for Young Adults with Serious Mental Health Conditions. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 43(4): 542-563.
- Kim, H., Munson, M.R., & McKay, M. (2012). Engagement in mental health care among adolescents and young adults. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 29(3), 241-266.
Reaching into Communities: A New Paradigm for Preventative Youth Mental Health
Early intervention and prevention programs (EIPP) have improved the quality of services in the United States, particularly for those experiencing schizophrenia-spectrum-related psychosis. However, only a small portion of eligible youth access these services. One promising solution to the current inequities is to reach-in to existing community agencies to bolster their mental health identification, referral, and support services.
Funding Source: New York University SEED Grant
Related Publication
- DeVylder, J., Anglin, D., Munson, M.R., Nishida, A., Oh, H., Marsh, J., Narita, Z., Bareis, N. & Fedina, L. (2022). Ethnoracial Variation in Risk for Psychotic Experiences. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 49(2), 385-396.
Cornerstone Coordinated Community Care (CCCC)
The goal of this collaboration is to build on findings from an intervention pilot in Detroit, Michigan, to move forward a larger intervention trial called ‘Cornerstone’ -- which is conceptualized as a multi-component psychosocial intervention providing ‘coordinated community care. Cornerstone Coordinated Community Care (CCCC) builds on evidence-based approaches to provide an integrated ‘transition’ intervention for youth with documented need transitioning from the children’s to adult mental health service systems.
Our team recently completed an evaluation of the implementation process of Cornerstone in an outpatient mental health clinic in New York. If you are interested, please read our study protocol paper in Trials and our outcomes paper in Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.
Currently, our team is part of a team that was awarded an NIMH grant (PI: Narendorf) to refine Critical Time Intervention (CTI) and Cornerstone for young adults transitioning from homelessness to rapid rehousing and then test the feasibility, acceptability and impact of the program in a phased open trial and randomized control trial. The project uses participatory methods and the ADAPT-ITT model.
Funding Sources: National Institute of Mental Health, National Council for Behavioral Health, Inc., Bristol Myers Squibb
Related Publications
- Cole, A., Adams, D., Ben-David, S., Sapiro, B., Villodas, M., Stanhope, V., Jaccard, J., Munson, M. R. (2023). Feasibility, Acceptability and Preliminary Implementation of Cornerstone Program for Transition-Age Youth with Mental Health Conditions: A Mixed Methods Study. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 50(3), 506-519.
- Ben-David, S., Amaro, A. & Munson, M.R. (accepted for publication, in press). Experiences of psychosis among transition-age youth attending an outpatient clinic in a low-resourced community. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
- Munson, M.R., Cole, A., Stanhope, V., Marcus, S.C., McKay, M., Jaccard, J. & Ben-David, S. (2016). Cornerstone program for transition-age youth with serious mental illness: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials, 17(1):1-13.
Leveraging ‘Big Data’ to Understand Unmet Mental Health Need among Young Adults in New York
This project will identify geographic areas of behavioral health need and multilevel drivers of mental health service use comparing traditional statistics and machine learning approaches. The project will use Medicaid claims data and is a collaboration with the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and New York State Office of Mental Health.
Project Director: Aaron Rodwin, LCSW, PhD Candidate
Funding Source: Constance and Martin Silver Center on Data Science and Social Equity
Photovoice for Change (P4C)
This project uses photovoice in partnership with youth at Children’s Village and an alumni advisory board from CASA-NYC to evolve a set of protocols for youth throughout the city and country. Photovoice empowers youth, while reducing their mental distress and improving their overall wellbeing. The project aims to be a vehicle for systems-level change in child welfare.
Project Director: Moiyattu Banya, LMSW, PhD Student
Funding Source: Kenworthy-Swift Foundation
Mental Health Decision-Making among Young Adults in Low-Resourced Communities, aka ‘Staying Healthy/Feeling Good’
The goal of this mixed-methods research project is to build understanding on the multi-level factors associated with mental health service use decision-making and mental health among young adults living in Low-Resourced Communities. The project also examined community violence, depression, post-traumatic stress, and food insecurity.
Funding Sources: Silberman Fund/New York Community Trust, New York University Pilot Funds
Related Publications
- Cole, A.R., Ramirez, L., Villodas, M., Ben-David, S. & Munson, M.R. (2019). “I want to rise above it all”: Perceptions of the neighborhood among young adults living in public housing. Children and Youth Services Review, 103, 63-69.
Making the Transition to Adulthood Mixed Methods Research Project, aka ‘got mood’
The goal of this study was to build knowledge on the mental health service use experiences of young adults whose childhood histories include a mood disorder diagnosis from a professional, Medicaid mental health care and additional public sector service use. We examine the perspectives of young adults in the following areas: 1) what it means to be an adult, 2) decision-making regarding mental health services, 3) identity, and 4) supportive relationships.
Funding Sources: Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH), Mandel Foundation
Related Publications
Munson, M.R., Narendorf, S.C., Ben-David, S., & Cole, A. (2019). A Mixed Methods Investigation into the Perspectives on Mental Health and Professional Treatment among Former System Youth with Mood Disorders. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(1), 52-64.
Munson, M.R., Narendorf, S.C., Ben-David, S., Cole, A., & Floersch, J. (2018). Integrated, Overwhelmed, and Distanced: Narratives of Mental Health among Young Adults. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 9(3), 413-430.
Narendorf, S.C., Munson, M.R., Ben-David, S., Cole, A., & Scott, L.D., Jr. (2018). Race and Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Help Seeking among Marginalized Young Adults with Mood Disorders: A Mixed Methods Investigation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 41(4), 277-289.
Ben-David, S.B., Cole, A.R., Spencer, R., Jaccard, J., & Munson, M.R. (2017). Social Context in Mental Health Service Use among Young Adults. Journal of Social Service Research, 43(1), 85-99.
Lee, B., Cole, A., & Munson, M.R. (2016). Navigating Family Roles and Relationships: System Youth in the Transition Years. Child and Family Social Work, 21(4), 442-451.
Munson, M.R., Brown, S., Spencer, R., Tracy, E., & Edguer, M. (2015). Supportive Relationships Among Former System Youth With Mental Health Challenges. Journal of Adolescent Research, 30(4), 501-529.
Munson M.R., Lee., B.R., Miller, D., Cole, A. & Nedelcu, C. (2013) Emerging Adulthood among Former system youth: The Ideal Versus the Real. Children and Youth Services Review, 35, 923-929
Munson, M.R., Jaccard, J., *Smalling, S.E., Kim, H. & Werner, J.J., & Scott, L.D., Jr., (2012). Static, Dynamic, Intergrated and Contextualized: A Framework for Understanding Mental Health Service Use among Young Adults. Social Science and Medicine, 75(8), 1441-1449.
Munson, M.R., & Lox, J. (2012). Clinical Social Work Practice with Former System Youth with Mental Health Needs: Perspective of Those in Need. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40, 255-260. doi: 10.1007/s10560-012-0256-2
- Munson, M.R., Scott, L.D., Jr., *Smalling S., *Kim, H. & Floersch, J. (2011) Former system youth with mental health needs: Routes to adult mental health services, insight, emotion, and mistrust. Children and Youth Services Review. 33(11), 2261-2266. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.07
Contact Us
Please contact us for more information on any of the material on this page.
Email: michelle.munson@nyu.edu
Phone: (212) 992-9731 or (212) 992-6658