$20 million mental health and resilience SOAR Study now enrolling in southeast Ohio

SOAR Mobile MRI unit based at Holzer Medical Center – Jackson accepting participants

JACKSON, Ohio – Today, Holzer Health System and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the next phase of the SOAR Study. This research initiative seeks to identify the root causes of the ongoing epidemic of persistent emotional distress, suicide and drug overdose. 

Inspired by the pioneering longitudinal Framingham Heart Study, this first-of-its kind study will examine the root causes of not only mental illness and addiction but also resilience and mental wellness. 

The State of Ohio Adversity and Resilience Study (SOAR) features government, academia and the private sector working together in this innovative mental health research effort. The study will involve 1,200 multi-generational families across Ohio’s 88 counties.

“Holzer has been providing health care in southeast Ohio for over 100 years, and we have a proud history of supporting research,” said Rodney Stout, MD, chief executive officer at Holzer Health System. “With this collaboration with Ohio State, we are providing a location for services as well as valuable resources for our friends, family and neighbors. The SOAR Study will provide data not only for our service area, but for the entire state to enhance health care of all communities.”

The statewide research project is funded by an initial $20 million grant from The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). SOAR will study Ohioans in their local communities, using an integrated “bring science to the people” approach.

The SOAR Mobile MRI unit now based at Holzer Medical Center – Jackson, 50 Burlington Rd., Jackson, Ohio is enrolling study participants ages 12 and up from Southeast Ohio, including Athens, Gallia, Meigs and Jackson counties.

The SOAR Study will investigate social, environmental, psychological, trauma-related, genetic, and biological factors that lead to – or protect from – the development of persistent distress, mental illness, substance use, overdose and suicide.

“SOAR has the potential to transform how we understand and treat mental health, and ultimately save lives. SOAR’s large-scale study will reach families in urban, suburban and rural areas across Ohio, including here in Appalachia. It’s important to meet people where they are, and the SOAR mobile unit will bring science to the people, reaching patients in rural Ohio who will be vital to the success of the project,” said Andrew Thomas, MD, chief clinical officer at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

The SOAR Study approach allows for an integrated analysis of individual, family, group, and community factors. By studying generations of families, investigators will identify patterns of intergenerational transmission of risk and resilience. This can allow families to “break the chain” of risk for mental illness, substance use and deaths related to persistent distress.

The SOAR Study has two parallel but connected projects: 

• Wellness Survey
  A survey assessment of the mental health of 15,000 Ohioans in all 88 counties
• Brain Health Study
  In-person visits with 1,200 families at rural, suburban and urban sites across Ohio

The SOAR Study is led by principal investigator K. Luan Phan in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Heath at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine, in collaboration with the state and several of Ohio’s public universities, including Ohio University, and a private institution of higher education.

“Ohio University values bringing a sense of collaboration to the SOAR Studies. Combining our expertise, perspectives and resources with other academic research universities and partnering with the state to fundamentally understand and curb mental illness is truly an ambitious and worthwhile endeavor,” said Tracy Shaub, DO, Dean of Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Athens campus. Through the power of partnerships, collectively, we can better understand the factors that influence and affect mental illness that will have an impact on all Ohioans for generations to come.”

For more information or to register for the study, visit https://soarstudies.org/.

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If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.