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Projects

Projects Overview

  • San Diego County Behavioral Health Services:  HSRC provides data analysis and performance monitoring to San Diego County Behavioral Health Services. Supporting projects include CSS, PEI, INN, and Clubhouse.

  • Development of a Translational Tool to Study Yoga Therapy (EPYQ): San Diego is one of 3 study sites across the U.S. working in collaboration to develop the EPYQ--Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire to address current limitations in the yoga literature and to advance yoga-related research.

  • Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS):  The study assessed patients at high risk of developing diabetes to assess the long-term effects of lifestyle modifications of improved diet and exercise along with on oral anti-diabetes medication to help prevent the development of diabetes.
    • Project Lead:

  • Los Angeles County MHSA Innovations Mental Health Integration Programs (INN-2): INN-2 is a four year initiative that centers on building the capacity of communities to identify and support community members at risk of trauma or experiencing trauma by utilizing strategies that embody shared community values, leadership development, and community member empowerment.

  • Program Evaluation of SAMHSA-Funded Drug Abuse Treatment Programs at San Diego County's La Maestra Family Clinic: HSRC collaborates with La Maestra's PDOA-MAT and SBIRT stakeholders to develop and implement an evaluation plan to measure the progress patients make toward successful outcomes and to inform program improvement efforts.

  • Evaluation of San Diego County Suicide Prevention Action Plan Update 2018: The aim of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council's efforts in implementing strategy specific actions. The development of the evaluation plan and its implementation will occur in stages. Between 2018 and 2020, in collaboration with a strategic planning consultant, strategic planning and evaluation meetings will be held with a wide range of behavioral health stakeholders to identify priority activities.

  • ​Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System: Since its implementation on July 1, 2018, HSRC has been the contracted research center for the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) for San Diego County Behavioral Health Services (SDCBHS).

  • Next Steps Project: Next Steps program is a recovery-oriented peer and family support program and provides outreach and engagement to individuals experiencing mental health, substance misuse or co-occurring challenges and their family members.

Development of a Translational Tool to Study Yoga Therapy (EPYQ)

The Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ) was designed to address  limitations in the yoga literature and to advance yoga-related research. The EPYQ measure allows researchers to rate the degree to which various dimensions or components of yoga are present in their yoga interventions. 


The measure is currently validated for use by objective raters. Ongoing work aims to train researchers to rate their own interventions in a reliable and validated manner. In addition, the measure may have other uses for yoga teachers, participants, and with other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) interventions.  Led by Dr. Groessl, UCSD-HSRC was one of 3 study sites across the U.S. working in collaboration to develop the EPYQ--Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire to address current limitations in yoga literature and advance yoga-related research.


More information, study publications, and contact information can be found at https://epyqview.ucsd.edu/.

Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS)

The Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS) began as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) in 1994.  The study assessed patients at high risk of developing diabetes to determine if lifestyle modifications of improved diet and exercise along with on oral anti-diabetes medication would prevent the development of diabetes. 

After meeting its objectives, DPPOS was established to assess the long-term effects of these interventions.  One of the measures used in the study is the Quality of Well-Being Scale (QWB-SA).  HSRC  provides data processing services to DPPOS for QWB-SA assessments, including quarterly data reports and detailed data quality monitoring.

For more information, visit www.bsc.gwu.edu/dpp/index.htmlvdoc

Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System

​Since its implementation on July 1, 2018, HSRC has been the contracted research center for the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) for San Diego County Behavioral Health Services (SDCBHS). BHS provides community-based substance use disorder (SUD) prevention, treatment, and recovery services across San Diego County by contracting with local service providers, and the DMC-ODS allows for greater access to SUD services for low-income residents through Medi-Cal funding. The primary role of HSRC is evaluation, quality improvement, and reporting. 

For more information on DMC-ODS, contact Amy Panczakiewicz.

Evaluation of San Diego County Suicide Prevention

The UC San Diego Health Services Research Center (HSRC) has been contracted to develop the evaluation plan for the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Action Plan (SPAP) Update 2018. The SPAP Update 2018 was created by the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council (SPC), a collaborative of mental and behavioral health stakeholders with a collective vision of zero suicides in San Diego County. It identifies nine interrelated strategies to prevent suicide: 

  • Integrate & Coordinate Activities
  • Media & Communication Campaigns
  • Outreach for Coping & Connectedness
  • Community Programming
  • Means Reduction
  • Frontline & Gatekeeper Training
  • Healthcare Coordination & Capacity
  • Clinical Assessment & Treatment
  • Postvention Services

The aim of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of SPC's efforts in implementing strategy specific actions. The development of the evaluation plan and its implementation will occur in stages. Between 2018 and 2020, in collaboration with a strategic planning consultant, strategic planning and evaluation meetings will be held with a wide range of behavioral health stakeholders to identify priority activities. Measurable indicators to evaluate the success of the implementation of these activities will be identified. The evaluation will run from 2018 to 2021.

For information on the evaluation, contact Dr. Andrew Sarkin.

For more information on the SPC visit: https://www.sdchip.org/initiatives/suicide-prevention-council/.

Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) MHSA Innovation 2- Developing Trauma Resilient Communities: Community Capacity Building

​Innovation 2 (INN 2) is a four year initiative that centers on building the capacity of communities to identify and support community members at risk of trauma or experiencing trauma by utilizing strategies that embody shared community values, leadership development, and community member empowerment. Participating lead agencies and their community partners have selected one or more of strategies and target populations within their service area as the method for strengthening community capacity for addressing trauma across the lifespan. These strategies include building trauma resilient-families by focusing on children aged 0-5, psycho-education and support for school communities, support networks and coordinated employment for transition age youth (TAY) and older adults who are homeless or at risk for homelessness or recently incarcerated, and intergenerational families who have experienced trauma. With Todd Gilmer PI and our community partner, Harder+Co., HSRC is utilizing a learning focused, developmental evaluation (DE) approach that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative measurement to document the process and journey of partnership and community capacity building, as well as the impact of INN 2 on participants and the community. 

Next Steps Program

HSRC conducts the evaluation of the San Diego County Next Steps program; which is a recovery-oriented peer and family support program. Next Steps Program is a recovery-oriented peer and family support program and provides outreach and engagement to individuals and their family members experiencing mental health, substance misuse, or co-occurring challenges. The program is a partnership of three community organizations, Mental Health Systems Inc. (MHS), Union of Pan Asian Communities (UPAC), and NAMI San Diego as the lead agency. The program evaluation conducted by HSRC includes a process evaluation that documents the implementation of Next Steps through review of the data describing those who participated and the services they received. Additionally, the outcome evaluation emphasizes participants’ progression in recovery and successful program completion. Overall, the evaluation provides outcome data in the areas the program seeks to address including physical health, mental health, substance use, basic needs, social health, and other areas that affect quality of life.

Program Evaluation of La Maestra Family Clinic's SAMHSA-Funded Programs

The UC San Diego Health Services Research Center (HSRC) has been contracted to provide evaluation consultation for two Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded programs implemented by La Maestra Family Clinic in San Diego County, Medication Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction (MAT-PDOA) and Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). HSRC collaborates with La Maestra's MAT-PDOA and SBIRT stakeholders to develop and implement an evaluation plan to measure the progress patients make toward successful outcomes and to inform program improvement efforts.

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is an evidence-based practice that combines the use of FDA-approved medications along with counseling and behavioral therapy to treat substance use disorders and to help sustain recovery. MAT has been endorsed by SAMHSA, which established the MAT-PDOA grant program to expand and enhance access to MAT services for people with an opioid use disorder who are seeking or receiving MAT. La Maestra's MAT-PDOA services target low-income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals with an opioid use disorder.

Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based approach to identifying, reducing, and preventing problematic use of and dependence on alcohol and illicit drugs through early intervention.

The components of SBIRT are:

  • Screening by using standardized tools to assess a patient for risky substance use behaviors
  • Brief intervention in which a healthcare professional engages a patient showing risky substance use behaviors in conversation and provides feedback and advice
  • Referral to treatment by healthcare professionals to brief therapy or additional treatment

La Maestra's overall goal for the SAMHSA SBIRT project is to increase access to enhanced SBIRT services for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured adults and transition age youth (TAY).

San Diego County Behavioral Health Services

​HSRC provides data analysis and performance monitoring to San Diego County Behavioral Health Services in support of their Quality Improvement (QI) Unit. This large project also involves tracking and evaluating Mental Health Services Act programs and services, reporting on MHSA programs at the County, level of care, and program levels.  

 

As part of this effort we work closely with stakeholders throughout the public mental health system. This includes the Behavioral Health administration, with whom we collaborate to refine evaluation strategies and QI members who can provide detailed information on monitoring of programs, program administrators who can provide insight into the challenges of measuring outcomes of their clients, program staff who provide input on the clinical usefulness of evaluation measures, and clients who provide feedback on the perceived usefulness of outcomes measures, and who are consulted regularly to assess satisfaction with services as well as service needs and gaps.

 

HSRC works collaboratively with many diverse interest and stakeholder groups including consumer, community, and healthcare organizations.  Evaluation related activities have included running focus groups and interviews with stakeholder advisory groups, developing research measurement tools for providers and then training hundreds of providers in their use, validating measures in clinical settings with consumers, and reporting and dissemination of research results to providers and the community. 

The breadth of our involvement in the public mental health system adds a depth of understanding that both strengthens our evaluations and orients them to be more client and recovery focused.  Our involvement also makes our findings more credible and more useable to stakeholders who ultimately make or are affected by decisions regarding mental health services or strategies.

Supporting Projects

The Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI):  The Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) is a collaborative project between San Diego mental health services programs and the County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). The PEI project was implemented following the Mental Health Services Prevention and Early Intervention Act, which increased funding for mental health services in the state of California.  HSRC is responsible for the program evaluation for adult and older adult PEI programs. In addition, HSRC designed a web-based data system and online survey data entry forms to accommodate data collection and reporting for all PEI programs in San Diego County. 

In addition to many program-specific goals, the PEI programs taking part in this project share some common goals, including:

  • Increased public awareness and understanding of mental illness

  • Improved prevention efforts for people at risk of mental illness

  • Reduction of stigma towards people with mental illness  

 Targeted projects were designed and implemented to meet each program's goals. The media campaign aims to meet the common PEI goals, as well as to increase suicide prevention through media and education targeting underserved and un-served populations in San Diego County.  Other projects include culturally appropriate education-media for the Hispanic/Latino community, linkages and referrals for military veterans and their families, and mental health screenings for individuals participating in alcohol and drug services programs.  Additionally, several programs have implemented interventions intended to increase access to health care, prevent or reduce mental health symptoms, and reduce ethnic disparities in care for transitional age youth (TAY), adults, older adults, and those living in rural communities.

ClubHOMS: In 2018, San Diego County Behavioral Health Services, in partnership with the Health Services Research Center (HSRC), began the development of ClubHOMS, a system for data collection and reporting for San Diego County Clubhouses. Clubhouses are organizations open to people who have a history of mental illness where members can participate in activities that support their recovery. ClubHOMS was developed to improve the ability to track the usage and effectiveness of County-funded clubhouse programs. HSRC collaborated with stakeholders, including program directors and staff, to develop measures to track clubhouse activities and member outcomes, design reports that would yield useful information for the County and the clubhouses, and identify desired system features. ClubHOMS was fully launched on July 1, 2019. HSRC continues to provide ongoing technical support and program evaluation expertise.

Community Services and Supports: Community Services and Supports (CSS) programs enhance the systems of care for delivery of mental health services for adults and older adults with serious mental illness (SMI), resulting in the highest benefit to the client, family, and community.  CSS is the largest component of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) and includes client and family driven services that focus on wellness and integrated service experiences for clients and families, as well as providing services for traditionally un-served and underserved populations.  The CSS component includes Full Service Partnerships (FSP), which are designed to provide comprehensive services to the highest-need clients in the system (e.g., those with severe mental illness/emotional disturbance who have co-occurring histories of homelessness, incarceration, and/or institutionalization) as well as services for those who may not qualify for FSP services.  FSP programs provide a full array of services to clients and families using a “whatever it takes” approach to help stabilize the client and provide timely access to needed help for unserved and underserved adults of all ages.  Other programs funded through CSS provide outreach and engagement activities. The ultimate goal of this project is to increase San Diego County Behavioral Health Services (SDCBHS) ability to understand and improve upon the quality of services offered by the CSS programs and programs that supports the mental health services offered by SDCBHS contracted providers. 

This is accomplished with the following:

  • Collect, analyze, and report client outcome data for designated Adult and Older Adult Behavioral Health Services (AOABHS) programs.
  • Maintain and modify as necessary an effective and secure system to distribute, collect, and report on State satisfaction surveys.
  • Provide ongoing consultation to the SDCBHS related to the review and analysis of the system and program-specific outcomes associated with the MHSA.  Consultation shall involve the evaluation, review and analysis of the outcomes of the MHSA programs, measurement of client outcomes, ongoing improvement and refinement of the system of reporting by the County-contracted programs, and development of additional outcomes, as needed, to measure the achievement of the objectives and goals of recovery.
  • HSRC staff provides services as needed to consult on standard outcomes measures including IMR and RMQ.

Each year this project produces the following list of broad range of reports (the project’s deliverables) to SDCBHS:

  • Annual Systemwide MHS Databook
  • Annual Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Factsheets
  • Annual Special Populations Report
  • Annual Program-Level MHS Databook
  • Annual CSS Report
  • Annual BHS System of Care Report
  • Annual FSP Program-Level Reports
  • Annual FSP ACT Summary Report
  • Biannual State Survey Reports
  • Biannual Homefinder Outcomes Report
  • Quarterly Research on Publications
  • Quarterly Mental Health PIP Status Updates
  • Quarterly TAY Data Extracts
  • Quarterly BHS Performance Dashboards
  • Quarterly Adult and Older Adult Demographic Reports
  • Quarterly FSP Reports
  • Quarterly mHOMs Snapshot Tool
  • Ad Hoc Reports requested by SDCBHS

Sequential and Comparative Evaluation of Pain Treatment Effectiveness Response (SCEPTER) Study

The SCEPTER Study is a sequential randomized, pragmatic, 2-step comparative effectiveness trial to identify the optimal approach to cLBP treatment employing commonly recommended non-surgical, non-pharmacological options.  In Step 1, participants are randomized to 10 weeks of treatment consisting of either Internet-based pain self-management (Pain EASE), or Enhanced physical therapy intervention (Enhanced PT), or Continued care and active monitoring (CCAM). Those who do not respond after 10-12 weeks are re-randomized to 10 weeks of either Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or Spinal manipulation therapy (SMT), or Yoga.

For more information on the VA SCEPTER Study, please contact Dr. Erik Groessl or visit https://hwsph.ucsd.edu/go/scepter.

Yoga Manuals

Executive Director of HSRC, Dr. Erik Groessl current projects focus on the benefits of yoga for older adults and for military veterans with chronic pain and/or PTSD. He also conducts cost-effectiveness analyses for a variety of different projects. 
Below is a Home Practice Yoga manual for older adults. (This manuals are recommended for use only by certified instructors or people under the instructional guidance of certified instructors).

Past Projects

Veterans Telemedicine Studies (VTOPS &DOD): Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is considered a major public health problem in the U.S. due to its high prevalence and high rates of disability associated with the disorder. For thousands of veterans, PTSD is a chronic disorder, resulting directly from military service that causes substantial psychological suffering and social disability. Barriers to PTSD care include poor access, mistrust, and lack of benefit from traditional treatments. While recently developed evidenced based treatments like cognitive processing therapy (CPT) are very effective, these treatments are not widely available, as a large proportion of veterans live in rural communities and have poor access to specialized mental health care. The VA hospital system currently supports sophisticated telemedicine technology that can provide CPT to veterans in their home communities. The DOD project aims to assess the quality of CPT provided via telemedicine and its impact on outcomes by comparing PTSD outcomes for veterans receiving CPT via telemedicine vs. in-person care. The patient-therapist relationship is central in establishing an effective therapeutic relationship and is strongly influenced by communication. Through a randomized clinical trial of 254 patients receiving cognitive processing therapy either via telemedicine or by in-person care, the VTOPS project compared provider-patient communication during telemedicine consultations vs. in-person consultations. HSRC served as the data processing and management center for both the VTOPS and DOD studies. 

Integrated Care Model for Improving HCV Outcomes (HCV): The HCV study aimed to determine the effectiveness of this protocol-based integrated care model for increasing treatment rates and the number of patients who receive successful antiviral treatment. The study also assessed the effects of an integrated care model on patient involvement in care. The HCV study used a prospective patient level randomized design to examine the effectiveness of this intervention at 3 major VA medical centers. 

Los Angeles County MHSA Innovations - 1 Mental Health Integration Programs​: HSRC designed and carried out the program evaluation activities for the MHSA Innovations of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Working closely with stakeholders throughout the public mental health system, we assessed the comparative effectiveness of four models of healthcare integration through measuring client and staff outcomes, assessing the process of integration, and performing cost analyses.

CSS Tracking, Monitoring, and Evaluation Project: ​The Community Services and Supports (CSS) Tracking, Monitoring, and Evaluation System Project was initiated by the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) to assess the CSS component of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) and to consider how all aspects of this system, including client outcomes, can best be tracked, monitored, and evaluated. The project involved the development, piloting, and preliminary use of a data collection and reporting system that will track, monitor, and evaluate the full CSS component. 

Global Consortium for Drug-Resistant TB Diagnostics (GCDD): The Global Consortium for Drug-resistant TB Diagnostics (GCDD), lead by Drs. Antonino Catanzaro and Timothy Rodwell at UCSD, was an international collaboration of researchers, healthcare professionals, and tuberculosis experts who aimed to reduce the time to detection of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDRTB). Recently the group expanded research efforts to development of TB diagnostic tests. UCSD HSRC provided project management and data coordinating services for this partnership.