ONTARIO — Dr. Anthony King said Avita Health System‘s Ontario hospital is a perfect place to SOAR, a new $20 million statewide mental health research study.
An associate professor in The Ohio State University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and director of the Center for Resilience, King said Thursday study organizers knew metro areas like Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Dayton would be easier to include in the massive research project.
It was locations and residents in other more rural areas that would require extra focus.
“North central Ohio area was already on our map. It’s halfway between Columbus and Cleveland, but it’s on the outskirts,” King said.
“We started to draw circles around the state, identifying the places we needed to provide mobile units.
“We spoke to officials at Avita Health Systems and it was perfect. It fits all of our needs,” he said.
SOAR (State of Ohio Adversity & Resilience) will be a groundbreaking, innovative study that’s been two years in the making, according to King, involving the study of 15,000 volunteers from every segment of the state.
It begins in Richland and Crawford counties with a “ribbon cutting” on Feb. 9.
“We’re thrilled to open our doors to OSU and provide a location and resources for the SOAR Study,” said Jerry Morasko, president/CEO of Avita Health System.
“Our community health needs assessments in both Crawford and Richland counties have shown a need for mental health, addiction, and suicide awareness and prevention.
“We’re excited that OSU chose our community as the first study site for this initiative. The information gathered from local participants will create an opportunity to make a big impact here and throughout the state,” Morasko said.
SOAR began with a lunch meeting when Gov. Mike DeWine asked Dr. K. Luan Phan, chair of OSU’s psychiatry and behavioral health department, what could be done in the face of rising rates of mental illness, suicide and deaths related to drug overdoses.
Recognizing the governor’s urgency and his desire to tackle a growing problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Phan met with King and others at OSU.
“He asked, ‘Can we do something exciting and bold? Can we move the needle?'” King said.
The design of a study began that plans to do a survey assessment into the mental health of 15,000 Ohioans in all 88 counties and in-person visits with 1,200 families at rural, suburban and urban sites across the state.
“We have to have all 88 counties. That was the first thing the governor said. We need statewide representation. Appalachia is not the same as Toledo. Youngstown is not the same as Cleveland. Mansfield is not the same as Dayton. Rural is not the same as urban,” King said.
It will include “top-of-the-line, cutting-edge neuroscience,” he said, including psychiatric diagnostic interviews.
Work at Avita will go on for three months. The study will consist of physical and mental health screenings, MRI and EEG scans of the brain, a blood draw, as well as phone surveys and questionnaires.
Families and individuals are invited to request participation by calling 614-688-9537 or by emailing SOARstudies@osumc.edu. Volunteers are eligible to receive up to $355 for participating in the study.
King said it’s the first time such an in-depth study has included such a large sample size.
“We are using the entire state as a cohort,” he said.
According to officials, Ohio has seen a rise in mental health problems, substance use disorders, suicide and other deaths related to drug overdose over the past decade.
On average, 427 Americans die daily from drug overdose and suicide, including 19 just in the state of Ohio.
At any given time, one of five Ohioans experience a mental-health challenge that negatively affects their day-to-day functioning, something that King labeled “persistent distress.”
This study, according to King, is aimed at determining what works to reduce risk and helps to build resilience when hardship strikes.
Why, for example, do some people handle life’s stresses better than others and how can that knowledge be used in treatments?
Led by clinicians and researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine, in collaboration with several Ohio universities, the SOAR Study will investigate the role of biological, psychological, and social factors that underlie this epidemic.
“Ohio must be the model in helping our citizens overcome or adapt to mental health challenges so that they improve mental and physical health, complete an education, attain a good-paying job, support a family, and contribute to our communities,” DeWine said.
“We envision that the SOAR Study will jump-start future efforts to learn more about what Ohioans can do to better manage adversity and develop resilience,” the governor said.
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is funding the statewide research project with an initial $20 million grant, approved as part of the state’s biennial budget.
SOAR will study Ohioans in their local communities, using an integrated “bring science to the people” approach.
It will create a statewide medical research and development ecosystem to drive continued advances in mental health and substance use prevention science and treatment interventions.
“This study is another example of how, under Governor DeWine’s leadership, Ohio is positioning itself as a national leader in mental health research and innovation,” said LeeAnne Cornyn, director of OhioMHAS.
“The causes of these diseases remain largely a mystery to clinical experts and the public. The SOAR Study has the potential to help future generations better understand risk factors, effective mitigation strategies, and techniques to build resiliency — in short, the study has the potential to curb disease and save lives.”
The study will engage a multidisciplinary team of experts from Bowling Green State University, Central State University, Kent State University, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Case Western/University Hospital-Cleveland, Ohio University, University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, University of Toledo and Wright State University.
“SOAR is our effort to do for addiction, mental illness and mental health, what the Framingham Heart Study researchers did for heart disease and heart health,” said Phan, the study’s principal investigator.
Launched in 1948, that multigenerational heart study has enrolled more than 15,000 study participants over 75 years, resulting in major life-saving advancements about heart disease risk factors.
“Our approach with the SOAR Study will allow us to identify the factors that can be modified to reduce risk and build resilience,” Phan said.
“We won’t be able to ‘bend the curve’ on the growing number of deaths of despair such as those from addiction and suicide until we go upstream to better understand their etiology. SOAR is the first-in the nation statewide, multi-generational comprehensive study that will offer a new roadmap for developing better treatments and cures that will improve and save lives.”
