Projects

• 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.

  • Project Lead: Steven Tally, PhD
    
    

• 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.

  • Project Lead: Danielle Casteel, MA
    
    
• 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.

  • Project Lead: Kim Center, MA
    
    

• 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.

  • Project Lead: Andrew Sarkin, PhD
    
    

• 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.

  • Project Lead: Andrew Sarkin, PhD
    
    

• ​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).

  • Project Lead: Amy Panczakiewicz, MA
    
    

• 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.

  • Project Lead: Katie Rule, MPH

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/.

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.

​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.

HSRC has been contracted to support the evaluation of the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Action Plan (SPAP). HSRC previously supported the development of the evaluation plan for the SPAP Update 2018, 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.

The SPAP outlines 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

HSRC is currently supporting the development of the evaluation framework for the SPAP Update 2024, building on the foundation established during the evaluation planning process for the 2018 update. The goal of this work is to assess the effectiveness of SPC’s efforts to implement strategy-specific activities and to track progress toward suicide prevention goals across San Diego County.

The evaluation process includes collaborating with SPC partners and behavioral health stakeholders to identify priority activities and develop measurable indicators to assess implementation and outcomes across the SPAP strategies. Findings from this evaluation will help inform ongoing planning, strengthen coordination among partners, and guide continuous improvement of suicide prevention efforts throughout the county.

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

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

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.

 EPI-CAL is a statewide consortium of early psychosis (EP) programs led by UC Davis in partnership with UC San Francisco and UC San Diego, with the goal of standardizing care and improving outcomes for individuals experiencing a first episode of psychosis. The project’s Learning Health Care Network (LHCN) uses Beehive, a data collection and visualization platform, to support measurement-based care across participating programs. HSRC represents UC San Diego as a participating partner in the LHCN, collaborating on a multi-county data analysis and supporting the implementation, training, and ongoing use of Beehive across Southern California LHCN EP programs.

For more information on EPI-CAL, please visit: https://epical.ucdavis.edu/en/index.php

HSRC leads the independent evaluation of the ELEVATE Behavioral Health Workforce Fund, a $75 million initiative funded through the Mental Health Services Act and administered by the Policy & Innovation Center on behalf of San Diego County. ELEVATE is designed to address San Diego County's critical behavioral health workforce shortage by providing zero-interest forgivable loans, expanded educational programs, apprenticeships, peer support training, and paid internships to recruit and retain behavioral health workers in the region’s public mental health and substance use treatment system. HSRC’s evaluation examines program implementation, progress, and outcomes, assessing the reach, effectiveness, and impact of these workforce development efforts across San Diego County.

For more information on the ELEVATE Behavioral Health Workforce Fund, please visit: https://thinkpic.org/work/behavioral-health-elevate-behavioral-health-workforce-fund/

The UC San Diego Health Services Research Center (HSRC) partners with La Maestra Community Health Centers to evaluate several behavioral health initiatives funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Through this work, HSRC supports program accountability, continuous quality improvement, and the generation of evidence on effective approaches to substance use and behavioral health services.

Recent evaluation efforts led by HSRC include the following programs:

• Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness (TIEH)

This program provides integrated behavioral health and substance use treatment services for individuals experiencing homelessness. Services include outreach, care coordination, behavioral health treatment, and connections to supportive services that promote housing stability, recovery, and improved health outcomes.

• Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)

SBIRT is an evidence-based approach used in healthcare and community settings to identify individuals at risk for substance use disorders. The program focuses on early identification through screening, brief counseling interventions, and referral to specialized treatment when needed.

• Residential Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women (PPW)

This program provides residential substance use treatment and recovery support for pregnant and postpartum women and their children. Services support maternal recovery, healthy pregnancies, and early childhood development through integrated treatment, case management, and family-centered services.

HSRC collaborates with program leadership and staff to develop evaluation plans, track program implementation, analyze data, and produce reports that inform program improvement and demonstrate outcomes.

HSRC has also previously provided evaluation support for other federally funded behavioral health initiatives implemented by La Maestra, including the Medication-Assisted Treatment for Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction (MAT-PDOA) program and the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) initiative.

​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) evaluation is a collaborative effort between San Diego County mental health service providers and the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). The PEI initiative was established following the passage of California’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), which expanded funding for mental health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services throughout the state.

Although individual PEI programs focus on different populations and services, they share several core objectives:

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

• Strengthen prevention and early intervention efforts for individuals at risk of developing mental health conditions

• Reduce stigma associated with mental illness  

To address these goals, PEI programs implement a range of targeted initiatives across San Diego County. Examples include media campaigns that promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention, culturally responsive education and outreach for Hispanic/Latino communities, services that connect military veterans and their families to behavioral health resources, and mental health screenings integrated within alcohol and drug treatment settings. Additional programs focus on improving access to care and reducing mental health disparities among transitional age youth (TAY), adults, older adults, and individuals living in rural communities.

HSRC leads the evaluation of adult and older adult PEI programs in San Diego County. As part of this work, HSRC developed a web-based data system and online survey tools to support standardized data collection, program monitoring, and reporting across participating PEI programs. Through ongoing evaluation and data reporting, HSRC helps the County and participating providers assess program implementation, track outcomes, and strengthen prevention efforts across San Diego County’s behavioral health system.

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:

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.

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.