The Eli Lilly Canada Chair in Schizophrenia Research, created in 2003, is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease from its onset. The research also includes pharmacology, cognitive neuropsychology, brain imaging, further studies of the evaluation scale, sleep studies, cognitive-behavioural, and psycho educational treatments.
Chair holder
Dr. Emmanuel Stip, research psychiatrist at Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital, and associate professor at the Université de Montreal’s Department of Psychiatry, is the current chair holder. According to Dr. Stip, "The central issue is development of a basic, clinical and truly multidisciplinary research, using technology to implement the clinical development of new psychotropic drugs."
Funding for this chair was provided by Eli Lilly Canada, a pharmaceutical company, Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital Foundation and the Fondation de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal. These will allow researchers to study this illness that affects one person out of a hundred and will contribute to the development of highly specialized knowledge in clinical treatment and research of schizophrenia.
A serious cerebral biochemical imbalance
Schizophrenia is a devastating illness. Although the exact causes of this mental disorder remain unknown, it is believed to be triggered by a biochemical imbalance. Schizophrenia is characterized by hallucinations, thought disorders and withdrawal from social activities. It usually appears in late adolescence or early adulthood. Approximately 300,000 Canadians will develop the illness during their lifetimes*.
If not quickly diagnosed and treated, schizophrenia can become chronic. The socioeconomic impacts are considerable: loss of employment, numerous hospitalizations and damaging effects on families. The direct and indirect costs of schizophrenia exceed 4 billion dollars a year in Canada*.
Electronic organizers may improve quality of life for schizophrenics
There is promise in using new technologies for follow-up with schizophrenic patients. This was the conclusion of joint research between France and Quebec; the results were presented at the annual scientific day of the Eli Lilly Canada Chair in Schizophrenia Research at Université de Montreal, on June 4 2008.
Schizophrenia is a combination of functional disorders which alter a person's ability to conduct normal daily activities. In order to help patients regain some independence and alleviate the stress on caregivers, researchers provided patients with personal electronic organizers (similar to Blackberry) which were programmed to meet their individual needs. The organizers were used to remind patients of daily activities, to help evaluate symptom frequency and to send requests for help to the treatment team. Participants found that they were reassured at having instant access to this technology and felt more secure in their surroundings. With improved functioning, their self-respect improved as well, which could play a major role in facilitating their social reintegration.
Caregivers used the electronic organizers for patient communication and symptom follow-up, allowing them to adapt treatment to each patient's needs. According to Dr. Emmanuel Stip, psychiatrist-researcher at Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital and holder of the Research Chair in schizophrenia, "This study is the first stage in better understanding the needs of patients and their caregivers." The study showed that the organizer is simple to use, but there is room for improvement: for example, a signal (sound or vibration) to remind the patents of a particular task. Caregivers say that once these changes are implemented, they will be interested in using these tools and showing their patients the benefits of using them as well. As for the patients, they believe that using such a tool would be of great benefit to them.