In July 2023, Dr. Amal Abdel-Baki received the Angelo Cocchi Award at the 14th International Conference on Early Intervention in Mental Health (IEPA), held in Lausanne, Switzerland. This recognition highlights her contributions to the implementation of early intervention for the first episodes of psychosis, which is one of her main research interests.
From the beginning of her career as a psychiatric researcher, almost 20 years ago, she was interested in young people living with a severe mental disorder, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, as well as the impact of these diseases on their functioning. “These people are coming into a pivotal period where they have to make important life decisions, which the disease can influence, so it’s important to offer them the best treatments at the right time,” she explains.
The influence of social factors
Over the past year, Dr. Abdel-Baki and her team have been preparing a publication on the impact of cannabis use among young people on the progression of their disease and their ability to function.
“This is just one example, but we’re looking at several social determinants of health. How does the context in which young people live—for example, being an immigrant, a racialized person or a woman, or having had traumatic experiences during childhood—influence the course of the disease and their chances of recovery?”
A model adapted to Quebec
With this in mind, Dr. Abdel-Baki continued the work she started in 2019 on the implementation of SARPEP (Rapid Learning System for First Episode Psychosis Programs), intended for stakeholders of programs sp cializing in early intervention for first psychotic episodes (FEPP). Its goal: To improve the quality of care under Quebec’s FEPPs, which is a priority for the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. How: by detecting the disease and intervening effectively as early as possible to avoid the deterioration of the mental health and the social, family and professional functioning of young patients.
“The effectiveness of this model has been demonstrated in several studies and meta-analyses around the world, so the challenge is to integrate it on a large scale into the Quebec model. SARPEP is actually a community of practice, bringing together researchers, clinicians, managers, policy makers, patients and their families who together determine how to improve practices.”
— Dr. Amal Abdel Baki
A provincial influence—and beyond!
With SARPEP now deployed in 20 sites representing various realities in practice settings, Dr. Abdel-Baki and her collaborators collect data, provide feedback to teams and offer reinforcement activities to teams to maximize the effectiveness of health professionals’ interventions. For example, patients’ perspective is me sured using a questionnaire addressing nine dimensions of the evolution of their recovery, such as satisfaction with their physical and mental health, their autonomy in accommodation and their ability to carry out studies or work.
“My research and clinical practice with my team of health professionals have always fed off each other, and I think that this allows us to have a real impact on patients,” says Dr. Abdel-Baki.
The goal now is to extend SARPEP to all FEPPs in Quebec within two years. At the same time, Dr. Abdel Baki and her fellow researchers organized a pan-Canadian event at the CRCHUM to explore how the learning system could be adapted to other provinces.
This portrait is taken from our 2023-2024 Activity Report
