Professor Ora Nakash is an expert in creating provider interventions to improve the quality of care for historically marginalized groups and communities… and her expertise is being recognized outside of SSW, too.
Most recently Nakash’s stellar work and thoughtful approach earned her an invitation to join an initiative to apply for a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant, led by Stanford School of Medicine Professor Heather Gothman at the Center for Dissemination and Implementation at Stanford School of Medicine.
The group at Stanford received the SAMHSA-funded award to support a National Center for Mental Health: Dissemination, Implementation, and Sustainment (MHDIS) that will develop pragmatic, accessible implementation science-based resources. This center will provide high-impact technical assistance to build the capacity of SAMHSA funding recipients and mental health providers to disseminate, implement, and sustain effective practices, which increases access to effective mental health services for people in need.
The center will operate through five bi-regional mental health technical assistance centers to offer targeted and intensive technical assistance to mental health care providers, which is more likely to lead to changes in mental health care practices.
Nakash says, “The MHDIS will have a unique focus on the ‘how’ or process of practice change, translating findings from implementation science into pragmatic resources to address national gaps, barriers, and problems faced by mental health-related organizations.”
Nakash will be joining the Northeast Atlantic and Caribbean Mental Health Technology Advisory Committee (MHTAC), which is one of the bi-regional hubs, and will serve on the mental health technology advisory and expert board. In her new advisory role, she will offer consultation for specific projects that focus on mental health service access, adaptation, and equity.
Nakash says that she is looking forward to being part of this impactful collaboration.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with some of the best researchers in the country on mental health services, which I am very excited about. I am proud to represent our School in this consortium and contribute to the important work this center will undertake.”
