Alexander Kaltenboeck, a doctor in specialist training at the Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry at MedUni Vienna’s Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, has received the Austrian Society of Social Psychiatry’s (ÖGSP) Social Psychiatric Research of the Year Award 2024. He was recognized for his publication "How does the COVID-19 pandemic affect the personal lives and care realities of people with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder? A qualitative interview study".
The prize was presented to him by the President of the ÖGSP, Johannes Wancata, as part of the Vienna Lectures in Social Psychiatry.
The study investigated how the lives of people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In-depth interviews were used to gain a better understanding of how the pandemic has exacerbated psychological distress in study participants and weakened biopsychosocial support services. At the same time, it was shown that some study participants were able to use their experiences with psychotic crises in a targeted manner to cope better with the pandemic situation.
The research project highlights important starting points for how mental health services can tailor their services more specifically to the needs of their clients in times of crisis.
The work has been published in the top journal International Journal of Social Psychiatry.
About the person
Alexander Kaltenboeck completed an interdisciplinary Master’s degree in Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition at the University of Edinburgh and a PhD in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford in addition to his medical degree in Vienna. He is currently working as a junior doctor at the Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry at MedUni Vienna and is about to complete his specialist training. Here he also heads the ACQUAREL (Applied Cognitive and Qualitative Research Laboratory) research group, which aims to better understand mental illness and psychiatric treatment using cognitive science and qualitative research approaches.
