Funded by the North Carolina Department of Correction, a multidisciplinary team representing the fields of social work, criminology and sociology from the School of Social Work and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) is conducting a mixed-methods study of probation/parole officer workload issues in North Carolina.
Qualitative Study of Assertive Community Treatment
This study is being done in response to a recommendation made in the feasibility study conducted at the Sheps Center last year to determine if sufficient data and agency cooperation existed for a full-scale evaluation of the 10 Assertive Care Treatment teams.
Transitions from Assertive Community Treatment to Less Intensive Services
This study will use both quantitative and qualitative research methods and administrative data from a large mental health provider in Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to examine and compare the experiences of 237 ACT consumers who were transitioned to less intensive services and 672 ACT consumers who were never transitioned to less intensive services.
Duration Limitations and Adherence to Chronic Medication
The researchers will use claims data to examine adherence, utilization, and cost of anti-hypertensives, anti-diabetic medications, lipid-lowering drugs, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, and seizure-disorder medications among individuals with chronic conditions.
Influences of the Diffusion of Psychotropic Medication
The study includes three research aims to characterize the diffusion of psychotropic medication across a range of insurance settings, both managed and non-managed care, nationally and in several local markets in an effort to understand the inhibitors and promoters of the adoption and diffusion rate of new pharmaceutical technologies in the mental health area.
The Role of Medicare Part D in the treatment of Serious Mental Illness
We will use North Carolina Medicaid claims and enrollment data from two years before the implementation of Medicare Part D to the first two years afterwards to provide timely evidence on the impact that Medicare Part D has had on dual eligible recipients with SMI.
Children with Asthma: Communication and Outcomes
This four-year project, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is focused on a neglected area within children’s health services research, the relationship between provider-child-caregiver communication during pediatric asthma visits and treatment adherence.
Communication about Glaucoma and Patient Outcomes
Provider-patient communication about glaucoma and its treatment can be a critical factor that has an impact on initial treatment adherence and persistence.
An Approach to Capture Divergent Stakeholder Views on Future Research Needs
We will address this need by developing a better understanding of how stakeholders value future research using autism as an indicator condition.
How Child Welfare Agency Management Affects Children’s Outcomes
The purpose of this NIMH/NIDA-funded research is to discern how a variety of child welfare agency management practices affect service processes and outcomes
Accessing Coordinated Care for Children and Youth
The clinical component of this study examined the effectiveness of case management services (coordinated care) for children.
CADDRE-Based Study of Autism Service Use and Expenditures
We conducted a state-wide survey of middle school students with autism at two points in time to analyze service use and changes in use over time.
Child Mental Health Services Network Study
The network study was conducted by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. The specific aims of the network study were to assess patterns of service system coordination in four North Carolina counties.
Tidewater Managed Care Study
This study focused on one particular vulnerable population — adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) who are Medicaid enrollees — and compared the experiences of this target population under two different organizational and financing arrangements for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Development of the ICARE Evaluation Plan
From March through June of 2007 the Sheps Center, with funding from the NC Foundation for Advanced Health Programs, Inc., developed an ICARE evaluation plan to assess the impact of the ICARE initiative that includes analyses of Medicaid claims, surveys of providers and patients, and implementation of the pilot projects.