Almar Kok receives a “Mental health care research fellowship grant” to study the role of self-reliance in the recovery from psychiatric disorders

Congratulations to Dr. Almar Kok for receiving a fellowship from ZonMw to study the role of self-reliance in the recovery from psychiatric disorders!

The four-year project is called POINTR – Personalized profiles to optimize the use of self-reliance as a target in mental health prevention and treatment. Self-reliance of clients is an important goal in mental healthcare. But it works differently for everyone and may strongly depend on psychiatric symptoms, personal and environmental factors. POINTR takes these differences as a starting point to determine how psychiatric symptoms and self-reliance influence each other before, during and after treatment, and how this interaction differs according to demographic factors, social support and clients’ perception. POINTR defines self-reliance as the individual’s self-perceived ability to achieve goals and manage their life through utilizing their own skills and available resources. In POINTR, data from new monthly questionnaires with 50 adult clients with depression, anxiety or bipolarity, their practitioner and a close contact; existing cohort studies; and in-depth interviews will be analyzed. Findings are evaluated in focus groups. POINTR helps to use self-reliance more effectively as a target in prevention and treatment in mental healthcare.