Research Plan: Capacity Building Component Abstract The Capacity Building Core, as a key part of the Partnership in Implementation Science for Geriatric Mental Health (PRISM) project, seeks to achieve the larger and long-term goal of closing the mental health treatment gap first within the participating countries, Thailand and China, and also in other LMICs through other NIMH- funded scale-up hubs in the South-East Asia region. Through development of regional capacity both to conduct mental health implementation research and to use science-based procedures and information in developing mental health programs and policies, PRISM will prepare the regional health care system for transformative changes that will expedite the scale-up of evidence-based mental health services for older adults and other service-users. The specific capacity development aims of PRISM include: 1) Establishing networks and Communities of Learning for sharing and dissemination of learning products, first within Thailand and China, and second, within countries targeted by other NIMH-funded scale-up hubs; 2) Providing a comprehensive research training program to enhance the skills of health services researchers to conduct evidence-based mental health scale-up implementation research; 3) Conducting a series of workshops to enhance the skills of health care leaders and policy makers in using evidence informed decision making (EIDM) for policy development and program planning; and 4) Compiling training materials, tools, and other project resources for broader national and regional dissemination. Strategies will include a focus on improving capacities to generate, communicate, and utilize mental health implementation research; developing infrastructure to support a critical mass of trained researchers and policy makers and health care leaders, as well as a network of collaborating institutions; and providing resources in the form of structured curricula for organizing the learning experiences that are necessary for the improvement in skills to enable sustainable scale-up efforts. The PRISM project is built upon partnerships among investigators who have collaborated over the past two decades. Most relevant to the success of capacity building efforts are the partnerships that have been established between the project lead investigators and key stakeholders in each of the two participating countries. Long-term research collaborations among project investigators and committed partnerships with key stakeholders will greatly facilitate the successful accomplishment of PRISM capacity building core aims. 1