Jessica A Jonikas

University of Illinois Chicago | UIC · Department of Psychiatry (Chicago)

Date Presented 04/20/2023 The purpose of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine the efficacy of the Nutrition and Exercise for Wellness and Recovery (NEW-R) Intervention in improving competency and behaviors related to weight management for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. The intervention group improved more than the contr...

Objective: Self-directed care (SDC) is a treatment model in which recipients self-manage funds designated for provision of services. The model is designed to cost no more than traditional services while achieving superior participant outcomes. The authors examined the model's impact on outcomes, service costs, and user satisfaction among medically...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the Nutrition and Exercise for Wellness and Recovery (NEW-R) intervention for improving competency and behaviors related to diet, physical activity, and weight management. Methods: Participants with psychiatric disabilities were recruited from four community mental health agenci...

Objective: The authors sought to determine whether staff at a peer-run agency could deliver supported employment services with high fidelity to the individual placement and support (IPS) model and whether employment outcomes of peer-delivered IPS plus work-specific health promotion were superior to usual supported employment services. Methods: T...

Objective: Little is known about the employment experiences of people with preexisting behavioral health conditions during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, despite the recognized importance of work for this group. Method: Two hundred and seventy two adults with behavioral health conditions, recruited through statewide mental hea...

Objective: Longitudinal changes in health outcomes of patients with serious mental illness and co-occurring diabetes were examined after introduction of an intervention involving electronic disease management, care coordination, and personalized patient education. Methods: This observational cohort study included 179 patients with serious mental...

People with behavioral health disorders may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet little is known about how they are faring. A mixed-methods, anonymous needs assessment was conducted to understand changes in the lives of adults with mental health and substance use disorders since the pandemic onset. A cross-sectiona...

Objective Prior research has not addressed whether both serious mental illness (SMI) and other mental health (OMH) disorders affect the likelihood of 30-day readmissions after medical hospitalizations, or whether post-discharge use of outpatient medical, mental health, and pharmacy services is associated with readmission likelihood. Methods Using...

Objective: Adults with serious mental illness have high rates of general medical comorbidity and encounter challenges in dealing with multiple health conditions. Chronic illness self-management programs may help them more effectively cope with comorbid illnesses, especially when instructors are certified peer specialists. This study assessed the l...

While evidence suggests that adults with serious mental illness have an elevated rate of 30-day readmissions after medical hospitalizations, most studies are of patients who are privately insured or Medicare beneficiaries, and little is known about the differential experiences of people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. We...

Objective:: Self-directed care allows individuals with disabilities and elderly persons to control public funds to purchase goods and services that help them remain outside institutional settings. This study examined effects on outcomes, service costs, and user satisfaction among adults with serious mental illness. Methods:: Public mental health...

Objective: As part of a study of health status among 457 adults with diagnostically heterogeneous serious mental illnesses served by the public mental health system in four U.S. states, we assessed predictors of current cigarette smoking. Methods: We examined bivariate relationships between smoking status and risks for drug and alcohol use disor...

Objective: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of co-occurring obesity and diabetes among community mental health program members. Methods: Medical screenings of 457 adults with serious mental illnesses were conducted by researchers and peer wellness specialists in four U.S. states. Body mass index was measured directly. Diabetes w...

The prevalence of obesity and its associations with gender, clinical factors, and medical co-morbidities were examined among 457 adults attending public mental health programs in 4 U.S. states. BMI was measured directly and other information was gathered by interview. Over half (59 %, n = 270) were obese including 18 % (n = 83) who were morbidly ob...

Motivational interventions help people with mental illness try to quit smoking, but few studies have evaluated factors associated with this groups’ cessation with community treatment. We examined predictors of abstinence after a brief motivational intervention among smokers with severe mental illness. Education, stage of change post intervention, a...

Presentation to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on June 26, 2014

Physical health screenings were conducted by researchers and peer wellness specialists for adults attending publicly-funded community mental health programs. A total of 457 adults with serious mental illnesses attended health fairs in 4 U.S. states and were screened for 8 common medical co-morbidities and health risk factors. Also assessed were sel...

This purpose of this study was to evaluate the Nutrition and Exercise for Wellness and Recovery (NEW-R) weight loss intervention. Using a pretest/posttest design, 18 participants recruited from a community-based mental health program were assessed at baseline, immediately following the intervention (8 weeks), and at 6-month follow-up. The intervent...

This study examined the prevalence and treatment of 17 co-occurring physical health conditions among adults with serious mental health disorders, and factors associated with prevalence of the 5 most common medical co-morbidities. Data were collected from 457 adults attending publicly funded mental health programs who participated in community healt...

Objective: This multisite study examined outcomes of mothers with mental illnesses receiving integrated clinical, rehabilitation, and parenting services for their preschool-age children. Mothers' outcomes included independent living and employment status, custody loss and reunification, psychiatric hospitalization, and substance abuse. Method: R...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a mental illness self-management intervention, called Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP), on the use of and need for mental health services over time compared with nutrition and wellness education. Method: Participants were recruited from outpatient community mental health se...

Health concerns are common reasons for wanting to quit smoking among smokers with mental illnesses. Motivational interventions have used feedback from a carbon monoxide monitor to increase awareness of health concerns, but this device is not commonly available. Whether brief motivational interventions can be effective without this feedback is unkno...

Objective: People with severe mental illnesses are more likely to have nicotine dependence than the general population and do not use effective cessation treatment when they try to quit. Previous research has shown that a web-based motivational decision support system tailored for this population is associated with increased use of evidence-based c...

Background: We assessed prevalence of medical co-morbidities among adults with serious mental illnesses via community health fairs at which peer health educators reviewed results with participants post-assessment. We hypothesized that co-morbidities would be more prevalent than in the general population, and predicted significant post-test improvem...

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) self-management intervention in reducing depression and anxiety and in increasing self-perceived recovery among individuals with a serious mental illness. Participants were recruited from outpatient community mental health settings in six Ohio co...

A fundamental aspect of successful illness self-management for people with serious mental illnesses is the ability to advocate for themselves in health and rehabilitation settings. This study reports findings from a randomized controlled trial comparing propensity for patient self-advocacy among those who received a peer-led mental illness self-man...

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a peer-led illness self-management intervention called Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) by comparing it with usual care. The primary outcome was reduction of psychiatric symptoms, with secondary outcomes of increased hopefulness, and enhanced quality of life (QOL). A total of 519 ad...

Numerous studies have shown that substantial proportions of individuals with psychiatric disabilities have annual incomes falling at or below the federal poverty level. Other studies have shown that asset development programs can enhance the economic security of low-income populations. The purpose of this report was to describe how asset developmen...

Studies indicate that asset development programs such as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) can enhance the economic security of low-income populations; however, only a handful of asset development programs have been implemented specifically to serve people with psychiatric disabilities, and larger programs have not collected disability-specifi...

The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the outcomes of two statewide initiatives in Vermont and Minnesota, in which self-management of mental illness was taught by peers to people in mental health recovery using Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP). Pre-post comparisons were made of reports from 381 participants (147 in Vermont and 234 in...

The study explored perceptions of adults with psychiatric disabilities regarding cultural competency of peer-run mental health support groups and programs. Methods: Web survey respondents were recruited via mental health list-servs, web sites, newsletters, emails, and word of mouth. A total of 527 peers were surveyed about cultural competency barri...

This article describes a curricular transformation initiative, the Recovery Education in the Academy Program (REAP), spearheaded by the University of Illinois at Chicago's National Research and Training Center on Psychiatric Disability. REAP is designed to integrate principles of recovery, self-determination, and other evidence-based practices for...

This article describes a public-academic collaboration between a university research center and the Texas state mental health authority to design and evaluate a unique "money follows the person" model called self-directed care (SDC). SDC programs give participants control over public funds to purchase services and supports for their own recovery. T...

In this special section, we present a series of articles describing the work of the National Research and Training Center on Psychiatric Disability, located at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Psychiatry. The effectiveness of peer–led education in a supportive group context is the topic of the first article. The next article foc...

In the 1990s, US welfare reform legislation imposed a 5-year lifetime limit on financial support for low-income families with young children (younger than 18 years). With increasing numbers of single mothers and their children reaching the end of their welfare eligibility, there is concern about potentially high rates of untreated psychiatric and s...

This study examined changes in psychosocial outcomes among participants in an eight-week, peer-led, mental illness self-management intervention called Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP). Eighty individuals with serious mental illness at five Ohio sites completed telephone interviews at baseline and one month after the intervention. Paired t t...

Self-directed care programs give participants control over public funds to purchase services and supports for their own recovery. Data were examined for 106 individuals and showed that compared with the year before enrollment, in the year after enrollment, participants spent significantly less time in psychiatric inpatient and criminal justice sett...

Employment has been identified as a significant goal for many homeless persons with mental illness. However, treatment plans for this population typically focus on housing and mental health needs, and neglect to assess individuals’ desires and abilities to achieve and maintain paid employment. This chapter describes the work experiences of the Chic...

The authors describe a program to reduce the use of physical restraint on three psychiatric units of a university hospital. One component of the program involved interviewing patients to determine their stress triggers and personal crisis management strategies. The second consisted of training staff members in crisis de-escalation and nonviolent in...

The authors describe a program to reduce the use of physical restraint on three psychiatric units of a university hospital. One component of the program involved interviewing patients to determine their stress triggers and personal crisis management strategies. The second consisted of training staff members in crisis de-escalation and nonviolent in...

This review addresses the needs and experiences of young adult women, aged 16 to 21, who have a diagnosis of serious emotional disturbance (SED) or mental illness. Given the large numbers of young women with SED, evidence that they are underserved, and the continuity of many disorders from adolescence to adulthood, an integrative review in this are...

It is well known that people with psychiatric disabilities lack self-determination in their lives. A number of studies have demonstrated the high rates of poverty experienced by many of these individuals, leading them to confront a variety of barriers to a higher quality of life. Moreover, concepts of self determination and client control have not...

This article discusses findings and recommendations from the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS) Conference (2000) Technology Survey. The IAPSRS was concerned about the ways that technology was being used by its membership and the extent of interest in learning more about technology. Attendees at the IAPSRS 25...

1. Nurses working in traditional psychiatric inpatient settings are becoming more aware of rehabilitation as it applies to people who experience long term mental illness. 2. With the advent of managed care models, a large percentage of nursing staff will shift from traditional inpatient care to work with consumer-survivors in rehabilitation-oriente...

This chapter summarizes consumer outcomes following receipt of psychiatric rehabilitation services and reviews prior research studies in order to generate suggestions for improving the quality and consumer sensitivity of future outcomes research.

Preliminary evidence suggests that mental health consumers can successfully serve as peer companions, case management aides, case managers, job coaches, and drop-in center staff. However, few empirical investigations have addressed the use of consumers to train mental health professionals. This project employed a randomized design to test the effec...

Reviews approaches of research and program development in vocational rehabilitation for people with mental illness. Discusses relevance to America 2000; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; vocational ability among people with mental illness; principles from the first wave of vocational service models; commitments and imperatives of the second...

This manual is intended for use by persons with psychiatric disabilities who are employed in the community but need to improve their social skills to maintain their employment. It is designed to be taught to mental health consumers by mental health consumers. Each session outline includes objectives; a list of materials needed; and exercises that i...

"Ownership of one's life isn't a tangible thing that comes with a guarantee or warranty. It is a physical, mental, spiritual, and responsible connection/reconnection to life for an individual who seeks his/her own destiny." ~Nancy Fudge Introduction. There is a growing interest in person-centered planning, person-centered care, and individualized s...