Project Details
Description
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of the proposed fellowship is to prepare the applicant, Elizabeth Stone, for an independent
research career focused on improving services and systems for underserved populations with mental illness,
including those with co-occurring mental illness and intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). The
proposed fellowship will help Ms. Stone prepare for a career as an independent investigator by allowing
opportunities for individualized training toward three goals: (1) to attain proficiency in applying mixed methods
approaches that integrate advanced statistical techniques with in-depth qualitative methods, (2) to build
expertise in issues related to mental health services for individuals with co-occurring IDD and mental illness,
and (3) to develop an in-depth understanding of the legal and regulatory framework through which state mental
health and IDD agencies, independently and in coordination, impact mental health services for individuals with
co-occurring IDD and mental illness. To achieve these goals, Ms. Stone will complete activities including
mentored research, didactic and informal training, experiential learning, and attendance and presentations at
seminars and conferences. Throughout the training period, she will be supported by a rich array of resources
at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a strong mentorship team with complementary
expertise in health services research, mixed methods, advanced causal inference methods, and issues related
to psychiatric services for individuals with co-occurring IDD and mental illness.
The mentored research will consist of a mixed methods study focused on the role of state agencies in
mental health services for individuals with co-occurring IDD and mental illness. Despite elevated prevalence of
mental illness among people with IDD compared to the general population, those with both IDD and mental
illness face significant barriers to the receipt of mental health care. This is due, in part, to fragmented mental
health and IDD service delivery systems. In an attempt to address fragmentation, Texas restructured their
Health and Humans Services (HHS) system in 2017, eliminating the state’s IDD agency and moving those
programmatic and regulatory responsibilities to HHS, which also houses the mental health agency. The
purpose of this integration was to improve access to and quality of services by decreasing administrative
burden, better integrating similar services and programs, and clarifying lines of accountability and performance
measures. The proposed research examines the effects of this agency integration on mental health service
utilization and quality indicators among individuals with co-occurring IDD and mental illness using a concurrent
mixed methods design combining in-depth qualitative interviews with state agency staff and IDD and mental
health advocates with augmented synthetic control analyses of administrative insurance claims data. This
proposed research is well-aligned with NIMH’s Strategic Plan Objective 4.1 to support research on improving
the reach of mental health services through research with a focus on an important and underserved population.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 2/10/23 → 2/9/24 |
Funding
- National Institute of Mental Health: $46,752.00
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