HOPEnDialogue

HOPEnDialogue: An International collaborative multicentre research to support the Open Dialogue Learning Community and evaluate the effectiveness of Open Dialogue in various mental health care contexts around the world

The HOPEnDialogue project is an international project coordinated by the ISTC-CNR aimed at investigating the mental health approach knows as Open Dialogue (OD).

Among the most innovative therapeutic interventions in mental health care in recent decades, Open Dialogue supports the recovery of individuals facing mental health challenges through the active involvement of their network. Grounded in attentive listening and respect for every voice —especially that of the person at the centre of concern, but also including their family members, friends, and professionals—OD fosters transparent, inclusive processes in which decisions are shared as much as possible. Beyond its therapeutic approach, a core element of Open Dialogue is the organisation of mental health services to prioritise immediate, community-based care over hospitalisation.

The Open Dialogue approach was developed through a close integration of clinical practice and research, which allowed for the systematic documentation of remarkable outcomes in Western Lapland (Finland), where it originated. Encouraged by these promising outcomes, OD has since been implemented in mental health services worldwide. However, inconsistencies in outcome measures and implementation strategies have so far prevented sound conclusions about OD’s transferability and effectiveness across different contexts.

The HOPEnDialogue project was established in 2019 with the aim of assessing the fidelity of Open Dialogue practice —that is, the extent to which OD implementations worldwide replicate the original approach—and evaluate the feasibility of an international effectiveness study. HOPEnDialogue was inspired by- and linked to the ODDESSI study, the first randomised trial of Open Dialogue, recently concluded in the UK.

During the first two years of the project, HOPEnDialogue researchers mapped and described Open Dialogue centres worldwide through a global survey involving 142 services across 24 countries. The results of this study were published Frontiers in Psychology. In 2022, the international HOPEnDialogue feasibility study began, involving five mental health centres in France, Germany, and Italy. This study aimed to define and test an international protocol applicable across different centres and countries. Data collection has been completed, and the results are expected to be published soon.

 

Beyond its core research and scientific activities, HOPEnDialogue has played an active role in supporting the Open Dialogue community's evolution into a scientific community through research consultancy and both online and in-person events. Notably, the project organised the 3rd “Meeting of the International Open Dialogue Research Collaboration” in 2021 and the 27th “International Network Meeting for the Treatment of Psychosis” in 2023, and coordinated a Research Topic dedicated to Open Dialogue published in Frontiers in Psychology.

Since its beginning in 2019, HOPEnDialogue has been funded by the Open Excellence Foundation (previously Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care). The project involves an International Advisory Board of different stakeholders such as researchers, peer supporters, family members, trainers, professionals, and experts in public health from eleven different countries, who contribute to its development and sustainability.

Project Funding: 
Funding Source: 
Open Excellence
Project Timeframe: 
29 Mag 2019

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Partners
Partners: 

Co-Investigators:

Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland; Professor of Psychology at the University of Agder, Norway

Steve Pilling, Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH), UK; Director of the Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness at University College London

Coordinator of the Advisory Board:

Mark Steven Hopfenbeck, Anthropologist and Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology; Director of the postgraduate programme in Open Dialogue

Advisory Board Members:

  • Russell Razzaque, Consultant Psychiatrist, Associate Medical Director, and Director of Research and Development at North East London NHS Foundation Trust; Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London; Visiting Professor at London South Bank University.
  • Nick Putman, Founder of Open Dialogue UK; trainer and practitioner in Open Dialogue.
  • Volkmar Aderhold, Member of the Institute of Social Psychiatry at the University of Greifswald, Germany.
  • Mary Olson, Founder and Director of the Institute for Dialogic Practice, USA; Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine; Fulbright Senior Scholar in Clinical Psychology.
  • Sebastian von Peter, Professor of Mental Health Services Research at Medical School Brandenburg, Germany.
  • Tomi Bergström, Clinical psychologist at the Department of Psychiatry in Western Lapland Health District; Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
  • Martijn Kole, Co-founder of Peer Supported Open Dialogue in the Netherlands; founder of Enik Recovery College.
  • Mia Kurtti, Psychiatric nurse MSc; trainer and supervisor in Family Therapy and Open Dialogue; practitioner in Western Lapland mental health services, Finland.
  • Antonello Leogrande, Lawyer with experience in mental health and charity regulation; active in Italy and the UK.
  • Hannele Mäkiollitervo, Peer specialist from Tornio, Finland; involved in training and research processes in the Western Lapland Health District.
  • Gina Nikkel, PhD, former President and CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care (EXCELLENCE), USA; Executive Director of the Association of Oregon Counties; Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Sciences University.
  • Anna Paola Marchetti, Psychiatrist and psychotherapist; until 2020, head of the “Home Rehabilitation and Support Programme” and Open Dialogue team at the Public Mental Health Service in Turin, Italy.
  • Tarek el Sehity, Researcher and lecturer at Sigmund Freud University in Vienna, Austria; research fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Italy.
  • Regina Bisikiewicz, Founder of the Polish Institute for Open Dialogue; partner of Leadership Management International for Poland.
  • Andrea Zwicknagl, Peer specialist in Switzerland; member of the Swiss Hearing Voices Network; co-founder of the first trialogue in Bern focused on neuroleptic reduction and withdrawal.
  • Sandra Steingard, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont; former Medical Director of the Howard Center, Burlington, Vermont; Chair of the Board at the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care.
  • Alita Taylor, MA, LMFT; trainer, supervisor, and psychotherapist at Open Dialogue Pacific, USA.
  • Douglas Ziedonis, Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego); Executive Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness.
  • Shubhangi Kaushik, Registered psychologist and Head of Partnerships and Programs at the Open Dialogue Centre, Australia.
  • Vegard Høgli, MD, MPH, District medical officer in Skien, Norway; former senior medical advisor for the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.
  • Dagmar Narusson, Research Fellow in Social Innovation at the University of Tartu, Estonia

Project manager:

Maria Elisa Rosati, Technologist at ISTC-CNR