Bridging the gap between evidence and practice for
the prevention of relapse in severe mental illness

Relapse prevention is the key to better outcomes and lower costs in the treatment of severe mental illness. Making it a reality will take more than medications, however effective, and more than the scattered, isolated efforts put forth by overstressed, underutilized and underfunded programs available in the existing mental healthcare infrastructure. It will take something entirely new.

“Relapse prevention is both a foundation of recovery and a goal of healthcare systems - - and we have the technology to achieve it."

J. Steven Lamberti, MD
Professor of Psychiatry at URMC where he serves as Director of the Schizophrenia Treatment Research Laboratory, and Chair of the Research Subject Review Board for Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Vision: Making Relapse Prevention a Reality

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Consequences of workplace violence impact staff morale, recruitment and retention, and ultimately the quality and delivery of patient care. Witnessing violence can also contribute to feelings of helplessness, loss of control and unpredictability in the workplace.

“We created The Safety and Violence Education (SAVE) program initially in 2001 as a prevention program for a local community-based mental healthcare facility serving high-risk adults. In 2004, the Safety and Violence Education (SAVE) program was chosen as mandatory training for the rollout of over 74 New York State mental health Assertive Community Treatment teams, and was sponsored by the New York State Office of Mental Health."

Robert Weisman, D.O.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry University of Rochester Medical Center

The Virtual Avatar Screening Assistant (VASA) for PTSD

The prevailing tendency in today’s healthcare system is to treat medical and behavioral health conditions, including mental health and substance use disorders, as if they occur in different domains, rather than within the same person.

MTS offers innovative e-mental health tools to enhance treatment, support self-care and promote recovery for mental health and substance abuse services. The solutions we create are aimed at addressing the ongoing psychosocial, emotional and psychological needs of people coping with serious and persistent mental illnesses like depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

“MTS has created a unique suite of technologies and related services which connect vulnerable populations with service and treatment options resulting in dramatically reduced incarceration, hospitalization and other costs to responsible organizations and ultimately to society. Regarding persons who have been arrested or in other ways have come in contact with law enforcement and/or the criminal justice system, ServicesConnect uses public health strategies to address issues of public safety.

Mary Hauser, MS
Vice President of Addiction Services and New Market Development, Dominion Diagnostics

When applied in real-world clinical settings, our innovative tools and applications provide – according to the service providers who have tested them – a breakthrough opportunity to truly deliver on the promise of evidence-based treatment by actively promoting engagement, participation and interactive learning between individuals diagnosed with mental illness, their families and healthcare professionals. The results are far-ranging, and encompass everything from enabling better outcomes to reduced utilization of costly (and often ineffective) services.

Below are sample tools and applications we have created.

Virtual Avatar Screening Assistant (VASA) for PTSD

The Virtual Avatar Screening Assistant (VASA) is a new-media feature, using gaming and relational agent technology for more versatile, engaging interactions and consistent structured interviews. It can be integrated with the MTS system to enable automated screening of participants for PTSD and trauma-related conditions and provide the data for instant evidence-based action planning.

VASA can be deployed very rapidly across the entire service area to begin data collection and to provide tailored feedback to participants, helping to ensure appropriate aftercare in the community..

Learn more

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Bridging the gap between evidence and practice for the prevention of relapse in severe mental illness

Relapse prevention is the key to better outcomes and lower costs in the treatment of severe mental illness. Making it a reality will take more than medications, however effective, and more than the scattered, isolated efforts put forth by overstressed, underutilized and underfunded programs available in the existing mental healthcare infrastructure. It will take something entirely new.

MTS will soon be launching a first-of-its-kind relapse prevention program with a specific focus on treating severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, beginning with relapse prevention as a foundational objective.

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Safety & Violence Education Training

Consequences of workplace violence impact staff morale, recruitment and retention, and ultimately the quality and delivery of patient care. Witnessing violence can also contribute to feelings of helplessness, loss of control and unpredictability in the workplace.

Learn more