This study involved developing and preliminarily testing a new app to prevent PTSD and alcohol misuse following recent sexual assault.
Geographic Area: National
Understanding mental health problems and health risk behaviors among LGBT Veterans
LGBT Veterans have faced a long history of stigma, discrimination, and exclusionary policies that were intended to exclude them from military service. Despite recent shifts in policy and increased staff trainings, existing evidence suggests that this group is at high risk for health disparities, particularly with respect to mental health and health risk behaviors. While informative, the research to date has been limited in several respects: cross-sectional designs, collapsing LGBT subgroups, severe lack of data on some subgroups, problems with identifying a comparison group, and lack of data on risk and protective factors and care experiences. This prospective cohort study will fill these gaps, recruiting and conducting surveys online with 1,600 Veterans to identify health disparities, test a conceptual model of prospective risk and protective factors, and assess VA utilization, barriers to care, and treatment preferences. Data from this study will inform future intervention efforts to achieve health equity for LGBT Veterans.
A Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) to address the “Last Mile” in education
Longstanding gaps between science and practice in schools have contributed to a persistent “last mile” problem in which education research consistently fails to reach the individuals for whom it was intended. Implementation research is an emerging scientific study in education of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and evidence-based programs and practices into routine services. The purpose of this three-year methods training grant is to increase the number of education scholars with expertise in conceptualizing, designing, and executing implementation research studies. We propose to establish a Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) that will provide training and mentorship to increase human intellectual capital devoted to implementation research study design in education and build a network of implementation scientists devoted to bridging the “last mile.”
Conceptual design of a virtual standardized patient for suicide safety planning in the Department of Defense
The major goals of this project are to conduct a needs assessment for suicide safety planning training among Department of Defense (DoD) healthcare providers and design paper documentation to support the future development of a virtual standardized patient specific to the needs of DoD providers.
Evaluating Lifelines4Moms (ELM) Study
Perinatal depression affects 10-15% of pregnant and postpartum individuals, with detrimental impacts on both parent and infant. In response to this, our department developed a perinatal consultation line for providers, PAL for Moms, to increase access to specialty perinatal psychiatric expertise and care. The purpose of the Evaluating Lifeline4Moms (ELM) is to assess comparative effectiveness of PAL for Moms and other perinatal psychiatry access and referral programs in addressing maternal depression.
As a community-engaged research endeavor, ELM has convened patient advocates, policy experts, and perinatal clinicians, who oversee the study as partners and advisors. Over a period of three years, the research team will characterize the components, implementation timelines, and state policy contexts of access and referral programs; evaluate the reach and implementation of these programs; and examine the comparative effects on access to and quality of mental health treatment among Medicaid-insured perinatal individuals.
Developing pragmatic adherence measures for dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
This project aims to develop pragmatic self-report measures of: 1) clinician adherence to Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and 2) DBT program fidelity. These measures will be tested among DBT clinicians in routine practice settings to evaluate their reliability and validity.
DVD Lifestyle Intervention (D-ELITE)
This pragmatic trial will study a DVD- and coaching-based weight loss intervention among Veterans, relative to VA usual care.
Helping Educational Leadership Mobilize Evidence (HELM): an organizational intervention to promote strategic implementation in schools
This project will adapt and test a leadership-focused implementation strategy targeting elementary school principals in buildings where universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs are being implemented.
Brain Injury Rehabilitation: Improving the Transition Experience (BRITE)
Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of long-term disability. Persons with TBI receiving care in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) are at risk for rehospitalization, poor community reintegration, family stress, and other unfavorable outcomes. In a six-center randomized pragmatic comparative effectiveness study, we compare the effectiveness of two methods for transition from IRF to the community. The Rehabilitation Discharge Plan (RDP) includes patient/ family education and referrals for continued care. The Rehabilitation Transition Plan (RTP) provides RDP plus individualized, manualized care management via phone or videoconference. 900 patients will be randomized, with caregivers also invited to participate. Assessed outcomes include societal participation, quality of life, caregiver well-being, and use of healthcare resources at 6-months and 12-months post-discharge.
Impact of medical and recreational marijuana laws on cannabis, opioids and psychiatric medications: national study of VA patients, 2000 – 2024
We will analyze Veterans Health Administration electronic medical record data to determine the effects of medical marijuana laws (MML) and recreational marijuana laws (RML) on cannabis (use and cannabis use disorder); opioids (prescriptions, fatal and non-fatal overdoses, opioid use disorders); and psychotropic medication prescriptions, providing important information on MML and RML effects in VA patients and in others with similar vulnerability factors to researchers, policy makers, health professionals and the public.
