skip navigation

Mental Health Study Examples

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

Below are some examples of groundbreaking work at Group Health Center for Health Studies (CHS): 

• Liaison Psychiatry in Primary Care
• Improving Depression Care for Seniors (IMPACT)
• Obesity and Depression
• Social Role Disability and Mental-Physical Co-morbidity
• Integrated Care for Depression and Back Pain

Liaison Psychiatry in Primary Care

• Principal Investigator: Wayne J. Katon, MD, University of Washington (UW) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Group Health Co-Principal Investigator: Michael Von Korff, ScD

Called "Pathways," this project concerns patients who have depression as well as diabetes. This two-part study includes both a large epidemiologic study of depression in people with diabetes and a randomized trial of an innovative care program for people with both diabetes and depression. The care program includes a specialized nurse care-manager trained to provide a structured psychotherapy for depression and to support antidepressant medication treatment by the primary care physician. A $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funds the five-year project, which involves collaborators from CHS, UW, and the University of Chicago.

Top

Improving Depression Care for Seniors (IMPACT)

• Principal Investigator: Wayne J. Katon, MD, UW Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences 
• Group Health Co-investigator: Elizabeth H.B. Lin, MD, MPH, Group Health Permanente

This study, called Improving Mood—Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment (IMPACT), assesses the ability of a "collaborative-care" model to improve the treatment of depressed patients aged 60 and older in primary care settings at multiple sites. The John A. Hartford Foundation funds this $830,000 four-year demonstration project, which compares the effects of an enhanced depression treatment model to usual care. Those in the enhanced model get care from a primary care physician and a depression nurse specialist supervised by a psychiatrist. Treatment adherence is a crucial outcome, because it lets patients get sufficient antidepressant medications and/or guideline-proven psychotherapy, for periods long enough to help them. The researchers are looking for differences in symptoms, outcomes, satisfaction, treatment adherence, quality of life, and direct and indirect costs of care between the two groups.

Top

Obesity and Depression

• Principal Investigator: Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH

Two related studies are probing the interplay between depression and obesity in women. One examines how having both of these two conditions, rather than obesity alone, can lead to even more disability and higher health care costs in women aged 40–65. The other project gauges the effects of depression on the success of women in a six-month state-of-the-art group weight-loss treatment. It also examines the benefits of combining this treatment with a cognitive-behavior group-therapy intervention focused on depression as well as weight loss. The researchers monitor the women's weight, nutrient intake, physical activity, depressive symptoms, and degree of disability. A five-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases funds both these studies.

Top

Social Role Disability and Mental-Physical Co-morbidity

• Principal Investigators: Michael Von Korff, ScD; Ronald Kessler, PhD, Harvard Medical School

More and more people live with chronic physical diseases and co-occurring mental disorders, both of which are leading causes of disability at work and in family life. Treating depression and other mental disorders in people with chronic physical diseases can improve their productivity and quality of life. National epidemiological data are needed to guide research, clinical practice, and public policy. This study's goal is to determine the extent and nature of disability among people with mental disorders and major chronic physical conditions. It uses data from 28 coordinated national population surveys, including nearly 200,000 people participating in the World Health Organization World Mental Health initiative. In collaboration with Harvard Medical School, CHS researchers are exploring how mood, anxiety, substance use, and impulse control disorders influence disability in people with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disorders, arthritis, and chronic pain. The NIMH is funding this $2.4 million project over four years.

Top

Integrated Care for Depression and Back Pain

• Principal Investigator: Michael Von Korff, ScD

With a three-year, $711,000 grant from the NIMH, CHS researchers are exploring how to care best for chronic back pain patients who also have major depression. The goal of the project is to help people with back pain and depression improve their quality of life on the job and at home by reducing not only pain and disability but also the symptoms of depression that often accompany them. The project is first developing and distributing an intervention that health professionals can use in general health care settings. Then it will conduct a pilot study of the intervention. The integrated, biopsychosocial intervention incorporates proven treatments for major depression (problem-solving therapy, antidepressants, or both) with those for chronic back pain (brief cognitive-behavioral therapy).

Top

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro