Power of Patients®, Sandy Pruett Project™ Launch Psychosis Recognition Research

Initiative invites caregivers, people with lived experience, and first responders to shape a psychosis assessment framework

GREENVILLE, SC, UNITED STATES, September 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Power of Patients^®, a digital health technology company focused on patient-reported outcomes and clinical decision support, and the Sandy Pruett Project™, which advances awareness, education, and policy reform for families affected by untreated severe mental illness, today announced a partnership to explore whether data from people with lived experience and their caregivers can help identify measurable patterns associated with psychosis and support better-informed responses by first responders.

The collaboration will investigate whether behavioral, functional, and caregiver-reported changes can be organized into a structured assessment framework that provides additional decision-support information during encounters involving individuals who may be experiencing psychosis. The framework is in the research and development phase and has not yet been validated.

For many families affected by severe mental illness, significant changes in behavior, decision-making, and daily functioning can emerge long before a crisis occurs. Yet family members often report having limited options for obtaining help until a situation becomes a crisis, an arrest, a hospitalization, or worse. The new initiative seeks to uncover measurable patterns that help first responders recognize psychosis during an encounter.

The project builds on technology previously developed by Power of Patients^® for traumatic brain injury and concussion assessment. Its Sallie™ platform helps patients and caregivers track symptoms and health changes over time, while the Injury Impact Severity Score (IISS™) supports assessment and clinical decision-making related to brain injury. Researchers will explore whether aspects of this data-driven methodology can be adapted to people experiencing psychosis.

"Families often notice meaningful changes long before a crisis becomes visible to others," said Lynne Becker, CEO of Power of Patients^®. "Our goal is to explore whether those observations can be transformed into structured, measurable data that helps first responders make more informed decisions while remaining focused on safety, compassion, and appropriate care."

The research effort will include participation from caregivers, individuals with lived experience, first responders, clinicians, researchers, and other community stakeholders. The team will evaluate whether collected data reveals consistent and measurable indicators of psychosis and whether those findings warrant continued development and formal validation studies.

Importantly, the proposed assessment is not intended to diagnose psychosis, replace clinical judgment, establish legal thresholds, or authorize intervention. The research is focused solely on determining whether meaningful patterns can be identified and whether those patterns may provide useful decision-support information in real-world settings.

"Families living with untreated psychosis frequently tell us that they saw warning signs but had few meaningful opportunities to get help before circumstances deteriorated," said a spokesperson for the Sandy Pruett Project™. "This partnership is about exploring whether what families see can help first responders recognize psychosis and respond with better information."

Power of Patients^® and the Sandy Pruett Project™ are inviting caregivers, people with lived experience, first responders, clinicians, researchers, and community stakeholders to contribute to this research. Learn more about the research and sign up to participate on our Psychosis Research page.

About Power of Patients^®
Website: powerofpatients.com
Media Contact: Lynne Becker, CEO, Power of Patients^®
lynne@powerofpatients.com
Power of Patients^® is a digital health technology company focused on helping patients and caregivers capture, organize, and share meaningful health information. Its Sallie™ platform supports symptom tracking and patient engagement, while the Injury Impact Severity Score (IISS™) provides assessment and clinical decision-support capabilities related to brain injury.

About Sandy Pruett Project™
Website: sandypruettproject.org
Media Contact: Sandy Pruett Project™
sandypruettproject@sandypruettproject.org
The Sandy Pruett Project™ is an advocacy organization for families affected by untreated severe mental illness, focused on the consequences of denied care. The organization maintains a growing, searchable library of real-life stories documenting what families face when a loved one cannot get treatment, including when anosognosia, a symptom that prevents a person from recognizing their own illness, stands in the way. Through its Evidence Tags campaign, SPP builds a public record of denied-care cases and delivers it directly to public officeholders. SPP also runs awareness campaigns to advance education and policy reform.

Lynn Becker
Power of Patients
843-817-2530
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