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.
Evaluating an Intervention to Prevent Family Homelessness
In the current phase of the project, the Sheps center, in cooperation with the Coordinating Centers (Vanderbilt University) and Policy Research Associates, Inc), has begun to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of these services for homeless women and their children.
Evaluation Consortium on Medicaid Managed Care for Persons with Severe Mental Illness
This project was stimulated by the policy concerns that continue to be raised as to whether vulnerable populations, such as persons with SMI, are disadvantaged by the rapid transition to Medicaid managed care programs.
Feasibility Study for Evaluation of Assertive Community Treatment
A feasibility study designed to help the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati determine if sufficient data and agency cooperation exists to complete such an evaluation.
Evaluation of the CMHS ACCESS Demonstration Project for Homeless Persons with Mental Illness
The overall goal of the evaluation was to conduct an experimental evaluation of system integration strategies at 18 sites: 9 receiving funding to develop ACT services plus system integration activites (experimental sites) and 9 to develop ACT services only (comparison sites).
Gender, Ethnicity, and Mental Health in Primary Care
This five year project, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, is focuses on a neglected area within mental health research– how patient gender, ethnicity, and age influence the discussion and treatment of mental health problems during primary care medical visits.
Impacts of Managed Care on Substance Abuse Service Linkages
This project, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, focuses on an important issue affecting the delivery of substance abuse services across the nation: the implementation of managed care funding mechanisms on the service relationships involving outpatient substance abuse services.
Integration Diffusion for SMI Service Delivery
The goal of this study was to describe and assess the process by which integration spreads through a multi-sector service delivery network for adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI).
Literacy and Perceived Barriers to Appropriate Medication Use Among Homeless Women and Children
In this pilot study funded by The University of North Carolina Research Council, Dr. Sleath is working with the Wake County Continuum-of-Care Collaborative (CCC) to learn more about the problems that homeless women encounter when trying to follow medications prescribed for themselves and their children.
Medicaid Benefits and Patterns of Re-Arrest for Mentally Ill Patients in Jail
With funding from the National Institute of Justice, administrative data from two large urban counties were examined to assess the extent to which Medicaid benefits lead to service receipt and the extent to which receipt of services serves as a deterrent to subsequent jail incarcerations in a one-year post-release interval for persons with severe mental illness.
Older Adults and Drug Decisions: Collaboration and Outcomes
The project focuses on elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis who may have difficulty communicating their wants and opinions to their doctor.
Pilot project to identify area-level predictors of the prevalence of psychotropic medication use among North Carolina Medicaid enrollees ages 0-4
Psychotropic medications are part of the standard of care for many mental disorders, but their increasing use among preschool children has raised concern because of insufficient clinical guidelines and because of possible racial and economic disparities.
Ethnicity and Postpartum Depression
The project will involve recruiting a sample of 75 women at the Alamance county health department (25 Hispanic, 25 African American, and 25 white) at their second trimester visits (preferably the fifth month) and using the interviewer-administered version of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, self esteem, hopefulness, positive well-being, and social support instruments.