Welcome to the UW’s CREATIV Lab!

The overarching mission of the CREATIV Lab is to promote access to and engagement with high quality, evidence-based mental health care for people who are underserved by the healthcare system.

We seek to achieve this mission through the:

  • development of novel psychosocial interventions leveraging the expertise of community service providers, exploring the potential of digital mental health tools, and non-mental health providers and lay workforce members in the delivery of evidence-based practices;

  • advancement of equitable methods throughout the full research and practice lifecycles;

  • amplification of community voices through the application of Human Centered Design and Community-Based Participatory Research methods;

  • expanding the mental health research pipeline by attracting and training mental health researchers, with an emphasis on aging, community-based practice, and technology, and providing a fertile environment for intellectual growth for faculty, staff, interns, and graduate and undergraduate students

Statement of Equity

Our lab acknowledges that all institutions, including ours, are founded in racist and colonial systems of oppression and we are on an equity journey to interrogate our current practices and adopt new practices for change.  

  • The CREATIV Lab strives to practice and participate in equitable mental health research. We believe that every human should be given access to mental healthcare and psychological safety. As researchers we take action to include diverse voices in our work, pursue equitable research methods and create safe spaces for underrepresented identities.  

More information on the history of racism and oppression in psychology and the American Psychological Association’s call to action can be found here: https://www.apa.org/about/policy/racism-apology  

How We do it 

  • Equitably is both a focus and a pillar of our work, as we have time and space as a group specifically dedicated to thinking about and improving equitability in our lab, as well as incorporating equitable thoughts into our daily work.  

  • We interrogate  

  • Each step of the research process 

  • Project Ideation 

  • Project Partnerships 

  • Grant Writing 

  • Participant Recruitment 

  • Accessibility and Use 

  • Data Collection 

  • Data Analysis 

  • Dissemination of research findings 

  • Internal and External Operations 

  • Hiring 

  • Marketing & Communications 

  • Interaction/Influence within and around institutions, vendors and other groups we work with. 

We Look for Solutions

  • We take an intersectional human-centered approach by valuing Black, BIPOC, Older Adults, people with disabilities, low socio-economic communities, and LGBTQ+ voices in informing our approaches and are actively engaging in and seeking new ways to bring diverse voices into our work.  

  • We intentionally seek out ideas, solutions and literature from Black, BIPOC, Older Adults, people with disabilities, low socio-economic communities, and LGBTQ+ individuals, highlighting the voices of lived-experience content experts to inform our practices. 

  • We are dedicated to learning, valuing, honoring and respecting identities and the nomenclature deemed appropriate and accurate by the individuals and communities that they represent. 

We Take Actionable Steps

  • We invest thought, time, and money to recruit racially representative samples 

  • We aim to improve accessibility for individuals of all abilities and backgrounds by refining and improving study materials. We evaluate study materials, including technologies, for language, visual, audio and tactile accessibility.   

  • Disseminate findings beyond academic audiences for the broader public by aiming to turning scientific papers into infographics using language at the national reading level.  

  • We seek knowledge from thought leaders and community members with lived experience to shape our work. 

  • We utilize infographics to share our research with the general public.  

  • We consider the limitations of White Western-oriented clinical practices as we design and build mental health practices. 

  • We use human-centered design and qualitative research methods to ensure the voices of diverse participants are heard instead of being limited by researcher-generated quantitative response options.  

  • We advocate for equitable and anti-racist practices to our partners and vendors.  

  • We seek to go beyond traditional recruiting practices to ensure that we recruit and evaluate candidates to attract diverse individuals to work with our team.  

  • We dedicate time and energy to equity through regular lab meetings and our equitable methods group. 

https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/resources

https://www.psychologyinaction.org/diversity-series/

https://www.washington.edu/raceequity/resources/anti-racism-resources/ 

We defer to experts on the most compelling and up to date information, so we've chosen resource lists from three different places as places to start looking for resources related to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion in our research and workplace.