The PRIMERA (Promoting Research and Innovation in Mental hEalth seRvices for fAmilies) research team - based in the Centre for Mental Health and Community Research and led by Professor Sinéad McGilloway - have been awarded the Lionel Hersov Memorial Award 2022 by the (UK) Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH). This prestigious international award recognises clinical impact and high-quality work undertaken by a team who is considered to be at the forefront of the advancement of evidence-based science in the field of child and adolescent mental health. Nominations for the ACAMH awards came from 14 countries around the world.
The PRIMERA team identified, helped to implement, evaluated and disseminated a family-focused programme/intervention (called Family Talk) for families with parental mental health illness (and with children aged 5-18 years). This is only one of a very small number of studies worldwide that have evaluated this programme (and with positive results). This ambitious five-year programme (2017-2022) of rigorous engaged research and advocacy was funded and supported by the Health Service Executive (HSE). Further information may be found at https://cmhcr.eu/primera-programme/.
The team would like to dedicate this award to all of the families who took part in this research. The team are also hugely grateful to the many dedicated mental health professionals/clinicians (in sites across Ireland) with whom they worked in the completion of this research.
The relevant excerpt from the award ceremony can be viewed here:
https://www.acamh.org/blog/acamh-awards-2022-results/
