Research

Research is one of the major activities of SCARF. It is done intramurally and in collaboration with national and international organizations.

ScarfThe main areas of research have been:

  • Phenomenology, Course and Outcome of Schizophrenia
  • Disability in Mental disorders
  • Untreated Psychosis
  • Families in Schizophrenia
  • Abnormal movements
  • Community Mental Health
  • Drug trials in Schizophrenia
  • Stigma and attitudes to Mental illnesses
  • MRI and Genetic studies

Research Instruments:

We have developed a number of research instruments which are extensively used to measure disability, family burden, social functioning and rehabilitation needs.

They are :

  1. Schedule for Assessment of Psychiatric Disability (SAPD)
  2. SCARF Social Functioning Index (SSFI)
  3. Burden Assessment Schedule of SCARF (BASS)


SCARF has been involved in several studies conducted by the World Health Organisation.
SCARF is one of the few NGOs  in mental health which have been recognised as a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organisation for Mental Health Research  and Training.

We have:

  • Completed over 60 research projects - national and international
  • Published over 120 scientific papers in national and international  peer reviewed journals.
  • Organized  international and  national conferences, the most notable being the International Conference of Schizophrenia (IConS).
  • Brought out books and training manuals.
  • Trained several students in research methodology
  • SCARF is a popular centre for students of psychology and social work to pursue their research interests.

SCARF's collaborating partners in Mental Health Research Programmes  

  • World Health Organization, Geneva:  WHO SEARO, New Delhi.
  • World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR)
  • World Psychiatric Association
  • Johns Hopkins University, USA
  • International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada
  • Royal Crichton Hospital, Dumfries, Scotland
  • Douglas Hospital, Montreal, Canada
  • Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
  • University of Queensland, Australia
  • Indian Council of Medical Research
  • Oxfam India
  • Help Age India
  • Tata Institute of Social Sciences & Sir Dorabji TATA Trust
  • Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Chennai Medical College & INDIACLEN
  • National Commission for Women, New Delhi.
  • Indian Council of Social Science Research
  • Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Trivandrum, India
  • National Mental Health Program, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India
  • Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Tamilnadu
  • National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore
  • All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
  • Disability Commissioner, Govt. of Tamil nadu

 

Eminent neuroscientist Dr.V.Ramachandran from the USA delivering a lecture at SCARF

Training

SCARF is one of the centres which offers block placement and training for students of Social work, psychology, Occupational therapy and Nursing. The students are exposed topractical programmes of treatment and rehabilitation of the chronic mentally ill apart from theory classes. All this is for a nominal fee.

A number of students from outside India have also trained here for varying periods of time.

We have also trained Primary Care physicians, multi-purpose workers and health workers in both urban and rural areas to enable early detection.

As part of our collaboration with the  Disability Commissioner, Govt. of Tamil nadu , we have been training several groups of professionals including doctors, PHC personnel, nurses, staff of NGOs and teachers.