Congratulations to Ashok Malla, who was named one of the 150 Leading Canadians For Mental Health by CAMH.
He has been chosen for "creating new hope for greater recovery by testing an approach that delivers care to young people who have a wide range of mental illnesses sooner."
Over more than two decades, Dr. Ashok Malla’s research on the impact of delays in treatment of psychosis as well as inadequate use of evidence-based treatment has been guiding his approach to early intervention for young people living with psychotic disorders. Featuring early identification and rapid assessment (within 72 hours) followed by access to integrated recovery-oriented services, the Prevention and Early-Intervention Program for Psychosis aims to support recovery for young people 14 to 35 experiencing their first episode of psychosis. Now, Dr. Malla is demonstrating the value of this model for a much broader population: young people 12 to 25 years experiencing various types and severity of mental illness. As the lead researcher for the pan-Canadian ACCESS Open Minds project, Dr. Malla and the project team are working with partners including youth, their families and caregivers, service planners and providers, as a network to transform mental health services provided to young people across many communities in Canada. Featuring the same rapid access to care and integrated health and social services that are hallmarks of the Early Intervention clinics, the model is being evaluated in a range of geographically and culturally diverse settings – from large urban to remote rural and Indigenous communities. With this new focus on the broader youth population, Dr. Malla is helping demonstrate hope for youth and to ensure a return to a healthy life is within reach for youth across the mental health continuum.
Learn more about Dr. Ashok Malla's nomination on the CAMH website