PsySTART: Scaling Disaster Mental Health Triage

Advancing Uptake and Implementation of the PsySTART Disaster Mental Health Triage System

An ongoing project (2026-2027).

 

PsySTART (Psychological Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment) is an evidence-based disaster mental health triage system. Unlike traditional mental health screening tools that rely on symptom assessment, PsySTART uses traumatic exposures and losses as predictors of psychological risk - allowing trained non-specialists such as first responders, nurses, and shelter volunteers to rapidly triage individuals in seconds. 

 

The Aim of the Study:


Led by Dr. John Naslund (PI, Harvard Medical School), and Dr. Zane Grodman, this project aims to advance the uptake and implementation of the PsySTART Disaster Mental Health Triage System - an evidence-based tool developed by Dr. Merritt "Chip" Schreiber at UCLA that enables non-specialist responders to rapidly identify individuals at greatest psychological risk following a disaster. The project seeks to bridge the gap between PsySTART's proven real-world impact and its broader adoption across community and health-system settings engaged in disaster response. The project will synthesize evidence on PsySTART's impact, identify priority sites and deployment pathways, and generate an actionable roadmap and proposal for a subsequent large-scale evaluation and implementation study.

 

The Background:

Disasters and acute events, including wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, mass violence, and community crises, are increasing in frequency and carry significant mental health consequences for affected communities and first responders. Despite the growing burden, disaster mental health supports are often delivered using generalized approaches that fail to account for the wide range of risk, resilience, and clinical need following trauma.

PsySTART is a dual-use disaster mental health triage system designed for both large-scale disasters and everyday acute events. By leveraging structured triage processes and technology-enabled data capture, PsySTART shifts crisis response from a one-size-fits-all model to a continuum-based risk and resilience framework, enabling targeted allocation of resources and more effective linkage to care.

 

The Project Plan:

The 9-month project follows a structured implementation science approach across three phases.

  • Phase 1 — Evidence Synthesis and Impact Assessment (Months 1–3): A rigorous review and structured summary of PsySTART evidence will be conducted, covering implementation contexts, outcomes, and documented impacts, as well as identification of priority evidence gaps and future research questions. Findings will be submitted as a peer-reviewed evidence and impact brief.
  • Phase 2 — Implementation Mapping and Site Identification (Months 4–6): Semi-structured interviews and Theory of Change workshops will be used to identify and assess promising sites for PsySTART implementation, with a primary focus on urban and rural communities in the United States prone to natural disasters. Key barriers, facilitators, readiness indicators, and resource requirements will be documented, culminating in a Site Opportunity Map and stakeholder-informed Theory of Change summary.
  • Phase 3 — Funding Proposal Development (Months 7–9): Findings from prior phases will be translated into an implementation guide and evaluation plan to directly inform a competitive grant proposal (e.g., NIH) for large-scale funding to evaluate PsySTART implementation and outcomes in practice.
3 blurbs

Supporters and Project Duration:

This PsySTART-focused project is supported by the Grodman Foundation and spans 9 months (2026-2027). The project engages community stakeholders, including health departments, first responders, health systems, and community-based organizations, across urban and rural communities in the United States.

 

Findings:

This project is ongoing. Findings on PsySTART's evidence base, implementation pathways, and stakeholder readiness will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and a competitive grant proposal upon project completion.