SIRS Awards the 2024 Research Harmonisation Award
The Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) has awarded the 2024 Research Harmonisation Award: To develop an international consensus definition and assessment tools for recovery in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
The 2024 RHA Topic:
Methods in any topic relevant to schizophrenia research (except topics covered by previous awards).
A Message from Sherry Kit Wa Chan, Awardee
Sherry Kit Wa Chan, MBBS, FRCPsych (Fellow of The Royal College of Psychiatrists), Mphil (The University of Cambridge), MD (HKU), FHKCPsych, FHKAM (Psych)(The Hong Kong College of Medicine)
As a group of 19 researchers at different career stages and individuals with lived experiences from six different countries and regions, we are delighted to receive this important award. Recovery is a core outcome parameter of schizophrenia, however, recovery rate, particularly the long-term recovery rate, varied with different research groups from different regions and countries. Environmental factors such as culture, economic backgrounds, life stages and healthcare systems, as well as the heterogeneous nature of the schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and the various psychometric properties of the assessment tools have all contributed to the variation and complicated the definition and assessment of recovery. Therefore, it is crucial to establish an international consensus on the definition and assessment of recovery enabling comparisons between studies from different regions possible.
We will conduct a systematic review on the existing tools used for short-term and long-term recovery assessment of patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The possible role of socioeconomic background as well as the varied economic status and culture of the countries will be examined. Results of this review will inform the development of the Delphi survey questionnaires. Two rounds of Delphi survey of 35 researchers and people with lived experiences from countries and regions of all six continents will be invited as panelists of the survey. The Delphi survey intends to explore and reach agreement on the components of recovery, assessment tools and approaches of definition (categorical vs continuous, domain-based vs integrated). Individuals with lived experience will be involved in this process both as panelists of the survey and the project members. To ensure cultural sensitivity, compatibility and feasibility across various populations and settings, patient and caregiver groups or organizations of the regions and countries of each research group member will be solicited and consulted to reach the finalized version of the recovery definition and assessment tools.
