Mental health
The traditional model of mental health care is built around 50-minute visits to a psychiatrist or therapist in a mental health clinic. Unfortunately, that model reaches only a fraction of people living with depression, bipolar disorder, or other mental health conditions. And people who start mental health treatment often drop out—or return so seldom that treatment has minimal benefit. New approaches are needed for effective mental health care to reach all people who might benefit. Mental health researchers at Group Health Center for Health Studies (CHS) are leaders in developing and evaluating those new approaches.
"Patient-centered mental health care means re-organizing care around patients' needs and preferences," said Gregory Simon MD, MPH, senior investigator at CHS and a Group Health psychiatrist. "For people living with depression or bipolar disorder, that often requires a major emphasis on motivation and outreach. The long-term goal is to help patients to recognize high-quality care and to believe that they deserve it."
"Person-centered care emphasizes that people living with mental problems are not defined by their condition," added Evette Ludman, PhD, senior research associate at CHS. "It broadens the focus of care far beyond the traditional emphasis on resolving symptoms."
Examples of innovative patient-centered programs developed at CHS include:
- Collaborative care models to integrate depression treatment into primary care
- Flexible psychotherapy programs delivered by telephone
- Depression programs tailored to patients with co-occurring health conditions (diabetes, heart disease, obesity)
- Using new communication technologies (Internet, e-mail) to make care for depression and bipolar disorder more convenient
- Integrating peer support with professional treatment for mood disorders
- Broadening the focus of mental health treatment from symptom management to recovery
- Activating mental health patients to be more knowledgeable and assertive consumers
"CHS research has developed evidence-based models of patient-centered care that have guided efforts to improve depression care in several European countries and in the United States by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, the Mayo Clinic, Bureau of Primary Health Care, and many other health plans," said Michael Von Korff, ScD, senior investigator at CHS. "In the next decade, we hope to find ways to make it easier for patients to receive effective treatments for common mental health problems, to benefit as many patients as possible."
Researchers in mental health
CHS
- David Arterburn, MD, MPH
- Ben Balderson, PhD
- Paul Fishman, PhD
- Rebecca Hubbard, PhD, MPH
- Laura Ichikawa, MS
- Paula Lozano, MD, MPH
- Evette Ludman, PhD
- Jennifer McClure, PhD
- Carolyn Rutter, PhD
- Greg Simon, MD, MPH
- Michael Von Korff, ScD
Affiliate researchers
- Paul S. Ciechanowski, MD, MPH
University of Washington (UW) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Wayne J. Katon, MD
UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Elizabeth Lin, MD, MPH
Group Health Cooperative Family Practice;
Group Health Center for Health Studies - Jennifer L. Melville, MD, MPH
UW Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH
UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Recent publications on mental health
2008
Jeffery RW, Linde JA, Simon GE, Ludman EJ, Rohde P, Ichikawa LE, Finch EA. Reported food choices in older women in relation to BMI and depressive symptoms. Appetite. 2008 Aug 28. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Richardson LP, Russo JE, Lozano P, McCauley E, Katon W. The effect of comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders on health care utilization and costs among adolescents with asthma. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2008;30(5):398-406. Epub 2008 Aug 3. PubMed
Simon G. Review: paroxetine and placebo do not differ for treatment discontinuation in major depression. Evid Based Med. 2008;13(4):110. PubMed
Katon WJ, Russo JE, Von Korff M, Lin EH, Ludman E, Ciechanowski PS. Long-term effects on medical costs of improving depression outcomes in patients with depression and diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2008 Jun;31(6):1155-9. Epub 2008 Mar 10. PubMed
Nguyen HQ, Koepsell T, Unützer J, Larson E, LoGerfo JP. Depression and use of a health plan-sponsored physical activity program by older adults. Am J Prev Med. 2008 Aug;35(2):111-7. Epub 2008 Jun 11. PubMed
Unützer J, Hantke M, Powers D, Higa L, Lin E, D Vannoy S, Thielke S, Fan MY. Care management for depression and osteoarthritis pain in older primary care patients: a pilot study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008; [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Ormel J, Petukhova M, Chatterji S, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Alonso J, Angermeyer MC, Bromet EJ, Burger H, Demyttenaere K, de Girolamo G, Haro JM, Hwang I, Karam E, Kawakami N, Lepine JP, Medina-Mora ME, Posada-Villa J, Sampson N, Scott K, Ustun TB, Von Korff M, Disability and treatment of specific mental and physical disorders across the world. Br J Psychiatry. 2008;192:368-75. PubMed
Wang PS, Simon GE, Kessler RC. Making the business case for enhanced depression care: the National Institute of Mental Health-Harvard work outcomes research and cost-effectiveness study. J Occup Environ Med. 2008;50(4):468-475. PubMed
Spangler L, Scholes D, Brunner RL, Robbins J, Reed SD, Newton KM, Melville JL, Lacroix AZ. Depressive symptoms, bone loss, and fractures in postmenopausal women. J Gen Intern Med. 2008;23(5):567-74. Epub 2008 Feb 20. PubMed
Simon GE, Ludman EJ, Linde JA, Operskalski BH, Ichikawa L, Rohde P, Finch EA, Jeffery RW. Association between obesity and depression in middle-aged women. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2008;30(1):32-9. PubMed
Our major research interests
- Aging & geriatrics
- Alternative approaches to healing
- Behavior change
- Biostatistics
- Cancer control
- Cardiovascular health
- Child & adolescent health
- Chronic illness management
- Health informatics
- Health services & economics
- Immunization & infectious diseases
- Medication use & patient safety
- Mental health
- Obesity
- Preventive medicine
- Women's health