This study involved developing and preliminarily testing a new app to prevent PTSD and alcohol misuse following recent sexual assault.
Practice Type: Online/remote/apps/social media
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.
User-centered design and evaluation of a virtual human patient to improve safety planning skills
The major goals of this project are to develop an interactive, virtual standardized patient to allow VA providers to practice implementing suicide safety planning with training feedback. The project includes a formative evaluation, usability testing, and a randomized pilot trial focused on evaluation of skill acquisition and transfer.
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.
Innovative training for suicide prevention in addiction treatment settings
Although suicide is one of the leading causes of death for people with substance use disorders (SUDs), no widespread suicide prevention intervention exists for delivery in community addiction treatment settings. The effectiveness and feasibility of delivering Preventing Addiction Related Suicide (PARS), a group-based psychoeducational program that provides evidence-based suicide prevention and safety strategies, was recently demonstrated by the UW Center for Suicide Prevention and Recovery.
To enhance widespread implementation and dissemination of PARS, this project will develop online training and implementation tools. PARS-Web will be created in collaboration with key state agencies and suicide prevention professionals to meet the new training requirements for Washington State Chemical Dependency Professionals. The goal is to integrate PARS as a part of standard care in addiction treatment agencies nationwide.
Improving resilience and recovery from traumatic events using the ECHO model
Most adults in the US experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. Trauma is linked to the development of mental health disorders, increased suicidality, work and relationship impairment and increased physical health conditions. Effective treatments exist, but many people don’t receive these treatments because of a lack of providers who are trained in evidence-based, trauma-focused treatment, especially those in rural or underserved areas.
This project aims to build, implement and test an ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) model for disseminating evidence-based, trauma-focused care, both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy approaches, to providers working with underserved communities in Washington state. The team will evaluate the impact and reach of the training model, with the goal of expanding the ECHO approach to improve trauma-informed mental health care throughout Washington.
Remote assessment of cognitive aging and mental health in older African Americans during COVID-19
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect more than 10% of adults who are age 65 and older, but the toll of ADRD is most devastating among older African Americans. COVID-19 widened these disparities; in addition to being more susceptible to COVID-19 infection and fatalities, older African Americans are more likely to experience digital and technical inequities. This puts them at risk for the development/worsening of depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment and sleep disturbances.
This project will evaluate several traditional and mobile health tools for remotely monitoring the effects of social isolation on cognition and mental health in older African Americans with baseline cognitive complaints. By testing three different strategies, we will identify the most effective, feasible and subject-preferred approach to collecting cognitive and mental health data which will help address brain health disparities.
Improving access to cognitive rehabilitation treatment following mild traumatic brain injury
More than a million people in the US sustain a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) every year, and many report difficulties with attention, memory and other thinking abilities months and even years following their injury. A promising treatment option is cognitive rehabilitation, but the full-length (20 hours), in-person intervention is not feasible for many people due to time and financial constraints.
This study will evaluate a brief (6 hours), virtual cognitive rehabilitation intervention developed for individuals with persisting cognitive difficulties after mTBI. We will evaluate several outcomes related to improving patient care including treatment satisfaction, feasibility of this intervention when using telehealth and preliminary effectiveness. The proposed treatment aims to provide the same clinical impact of traditional cognitive rehabilitation while reducing burden and increasing access.
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.
Engaging families of children with rare genetic disorders via a novel online platform
The goal of this project is to engage more families of children with CHD8 mutations with a novel online platform (GroopIt) and to empower families to be partners in research. We are utilizing a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to enable families to identify research priorities. Through an established Facebook group for CHD8, families will be surveyed to prioritize research topics of interest that were identified in previous focus groups, such as parenting stress or gastrointestinal problems. The use of the updated GroopIt platform as an innovative, online tool will increase both the engagement and accessibility of research to families of children with rare genetic disorders associated with ASD.
