Mental Health Research
PEERS IN MENTAL HEALTH: ROLE BOUNDARIES AND ETHICS
Mental health peer support is a growing modality of care in which people with lived experience of mental illness offer psychological support and education to fellow individuals with the same conditions. This form of care has been underexplored in medical ethics, despite the social and philosophical complexities that distinguish it from other forms of clinical practice. In particular, peer support invites scholars to ask new questions about professional boundaries: that is, the parameters set within relationships between people who receive care and people who provide it. The study Peers in Mental Health will examine boundary ethics through a series of semi-structured interviews with people who are trained to provide peer support, and the staff who oversee them, at Ohio mental health agencies.
This project has been funded by a Greenwall Foundation Making a Difference Grant.
Mental health peer support is a growing modality of care in which people with lived experience of mental illness offer psychological support and education to fellow individuals with the same conditions. This form of care has been underexplored in medical ethics, despite the social and philosophical complexities that distinguish it from other forms of clinical practice. In particular, peer support invites scholars to ask new questions about professional boundaries: that is, the parameters set within relationships between people who receive care and people who provide it. The study Peers in Mental Health will examine boundary ethics through a series of semi-structured interviews with people who are trained to provide peer support, and the staff who oversee them, at Ohio mental health agencies.
This project has been funded by a Greenwall Foundation Making a Difference Grant.
Medical Education Research
TEAM SWITCHING IN A TEAM-BASED LEARNING CURRICULUM
Dr. Knopes is a co-investigator on a multi-method qualitative and quantitative research project based at an allopathic medical school in the United States. The study is assessing whether or not moving students into new small-group learning teams partway through the academic year has an impact on students' academic performance. The study is also determining how students navigate the changing social dynamics between themselves and new groups of classmates. Finally, the study is ethnographically exploring how students learn to prioritize or overlook information as a team, drawing on Dr. Knopes' concept of sufficient knowledge.
This study has been funded by the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) and the Team-Based Learning Collaborative (TBLC.)
Dr. Knopes is a co-investigator on a multi-method qualitative and quantitative research project based at an allopathic medical school in the United States. The study is assessing whether or not moving students into new small-group learning teams partway through the academic year has an impact on students' academic performance. The study is also determining how students navigate the changing social dynamics between themselves and new groups of classmates. Finally, the study is ethnographically exploring how students learn to prioritize or overlook information as a team, drawing on Dr. Knopes' concept of sufficient knowledge.
This study has been funded by the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) and the Team-Based Learning Collaborative (TBLC.)