Reimagining Bipolar Care: Eliot’s Role in the Bipolar Action Network

Featuring insights from Hannah Larsen, MD, Director of Psychiatric Education and Research at Eliot Community Human Services

At Eliot Community Human Services, we believe better care starts with bold collaboration. That belief is at the heart of our participation in the Bipolar Action Network—a groundbreaking, multi-site national initiative to improve care for individuals living with bipolar disorder through evidence-based quality improvement science.

And we’re proud to be the inaugural community-based provider in the coalition. 

Launched through a visionary partnership between academic institutions, major healthcare providers and community organizations across the U.S. and Canada, the Bipolar Action Network aims to redesign every level of care—from how people access services to how treatment is delivered and evaluated. The initiative is driven by a simple but powerful goal: to make mental health care smarter, more compassionate, and more effective for people with bipolar disorder and their families. Multiple Eliot leaders are engaged in the work, including Dr. Hannah Larsen, Director of Psychiatric Education and Research, Dr. Doug Katz, Director of Clinical Services, and Leah Jackson Kean, Division Director of Mental Health.

“We see this as a moment of real possibility,” says Dr. Larsen. “We’re building the future of care—not just in theory, but in practice.”

From Awareness to Action

This Mental Health Awareness Month, Eliot is proud to be part of a movement that recognizes awareness must be followed by action. The Bipolar Action Network is doing just that—translating research, insight, and lived experience into practical, measurable improvements in care and outcomes.

Eliot’s participation ensures that the needs and voices of individuals served in community-based settings are not just represented—but prioritized—in a national effort to improve systems of care.

A Community Voice at the Table

While the majority of founding partners are large academic institutions or medical facilities, Eliot brings the experience of a nimble, mission-driven provider that serves individuals and families with complex and often under-resourced needs.

“We have strengths that others are still working to build—peer support, recovery coaching, flexibility,” says Dr. Larsen. “That means we’re not only learning from others in the network—we’re actively helping to shape its direction.”

Members of the network share data through a central registry, attend collaborative webinars, and meet in person twice per year to share insights and replicate what works. It’s an environment of shared learning and continuous improvement—exactly what Eliot values most.

Getting Diagnosis Right

Because bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed or missed altogether, the Bipolar Action Network is beginning where change matters most: accurate, person-centered diagnosis.

In Eliot’s Adult Community Clinical Services program, teams are piloting improved bipolar screening and assessment tools—developed in partnership with individuals who have lived experience. Taylor Semenetz, a peer specialist at Eliot and someone with personal experience of bipolar disorder, is directly involved in this work, gathering feedback from clients and helping inform how these new tools are implemented.

“We’re asking clients how the process impacts their confidence in the diagnosis, how it shapes their engagement in treatment,” Dr. Larsen explains. “That feedback is essential to getting this right.”

Quality Improvement in Action

Through the Bipolar Action Network, Dr. Larsen and other Eliot management have participated in intensive training at the Anderson Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a national leader in healthcare quality improvement. As part of that training, Dr. Larsen led a project integrating Eliot’s Zero Suicide framework with enhanced suicide risk screening tools for psychiatric prescribers and clinicians—measuring its impact and building strategies for long-term change.

“It’s not just about doing more,” she notes. “It’s about doing better—smarter, more effective, more responsive care.”

Grounded in Lived Experience

Unlike many traditional research collaborations, the Bipolar Action Network ensures that individuals with lived experience are involved from the very beginning. From national planning groups to on-the-ground testing, people living with bipolar disorder are helping lead the way.

Eliot’s long-standing infrastructure of peer supports and recovery coaching—particularly in both mental health and substance use services—has become a model for others in the network to learn from.

“We’re helping national leaders understand what it looks like to build care around recovery, dignity, and real-world support,” Dr. Larsen shares. “And we’re showing that community organizations can lead innovation.”

A Vision for What Comes Next

The network’s initial focus is diagnosis, but its long-term vision is broader: to reimagine the mental health system with equity, accountability, and human-centered care at its core.

“We have an opportunity to redesign care for people with bipolar disorder—and beyond,” says Dr. Larsen. “This work will inevitably ripple across diagnoses, across systems, and across lives.”

As Eliot stands alongside national leaders in this innovative work, we’re proud to bring the voice of the community to the table—and to help build a behavioral health system rooted in dignity, purpose, and progress.