Ian Bennett, a family physician with a joint appointment in Psychiatry and Family Medicine, recently received a NIMH grant to study two different methods of implementing an evidence-based care program for perinatal depression in primary care. In this new 5-year grant, he will work closely with our department’s AIMS Center, Drs. Jürgen Unützer and Amritha Bhat, and 20 Community Health Clinics in California.

Dr. Bennett’s study will evaluate a training resource called longitudinal remote consultation (LRC) which utilizes video conferencing to efficiently link depression care teams at health centers with psychiatric consultants. Psychiatric consultants can then observe key care processes and provide timely feedback and training to care teams. The results of the study will provide important, generalizable knowledge on the benefits of ongoing consultation for implementation of collaborative care.