Search results

The Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program of research was initiated in response to the 1977 report of the President's Commission on Mental Health. The purpose was to collect data on the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders and on the use of and need for services by the mentally ill. Independent research teams at five universities (Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University, Duke University, and University of California at Los Angeles), in collaboration with the National Institute for Mental Health, conducted the studies with a core of common questions and sample characteristics. The sites were areas that had previously been designated as Community Mental Health Center catchment areas: New Haven, Connecticut, Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, Durham, North Carolina, and Los Angeles, California. Each site sampled over 3,000 community residents and 500 residents of institutions, yielding 20,861 respondents overall. The longitudinal ECA design incorporated two waves of personal interviews administered one year apart and a brief telephone interview in between (for the household sample). The diagnostic interview used in the ECA was the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS), Version III (with the exception of the Yale Wave I survey, which used Version II). Diagnoses were categorized according to the DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS, 3rd Edition (DSM-III). Diagnoses derived from the DIS include manic episode, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, single episode major depression, recurrent major depression, atypical bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence, drug abuse or dependence, schizophrenia, schizophreniform, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, somatization, panic, antisocial personality, and anorexia nervosa. The DIS uses the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which measures cognitive functioning, as an indirect measure of the DSM-III Organic Mental Disorders. In the ECA survey, this diagnosis is called cognitive impairment.

This collection features data from 17,327 participants across 2,005 variables. Data from the Los Angeles, California, Catchment (UCLA) are not included. Baseline data (Wave 1) and Wave 2 data were linked to the National Death Index through 2007, which includes primary and contributing causes of death, International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes, and nature of injury variables.

This study addressed a critical gap regarding the use of mobile phone technologies to assist in the treatment process for explicitly justice-involved populations. To address this gap, the study research included designing, implementing, and assessing the use of an appointment notification system called the Interactive Computer-Assisted Recovery Enabler (ICARE) tool. ICARE was developed to improve and support behavioral health nonclinical care management and probation compliance among individuals under community supervision who are referred by their probation officer (PO).

The purpose of the ICARE was to automatically transmit appointment reminders to Treatment Accountability for Safe Communities (TASC) clients, starting from the point of probation referral to the program, with the goal of increasing their care management appointment attendance, increasing their care management completion, and improving their probation compliance.

This research included a two study approach, one formative and one focused on outcomes, where the goal was to enhance the ability to support clients by:

• increasing their engagement and retention in care management and treatment
• reducing the degree of their substance use and improving mental health
• complying with their terms of supervision
• and reducing their criminal behavior.

Multi-method Community Inquiry (R2 Part C): Survey of Disability Organizations, United States was the second of a three-part study designed to enhance understanding of the complex interactions between the person and environment that are associated with healthy aging for individuals with long-term physical disabilities from low-income and minority communities and to identify best practices related to impactful policies, programs, and resources.

This component of the project used a national survey of disability organizations to identify best practices for promoting healthy aging with physical disabilities and the personal and environmental factors that mediate the effectiveness of community living outcomes among diverse communities. This survey incorporated insights gained from focus groups and key informant interviews in its design and questions.