Dr. Gabriela L. Stein (Psychology) received new funding from the National Institute of Mental Health for the project “Building Infrastructure for Community Capacity in Accelerating Integrated Care.” Dr. Kari Eddington, Dr. Stephanie Coard, and Dr. Andrew Supple are co-principal investigators on the project.
Despite the promise of accountable care organizations (ACOs) in transforming the healthcare landscape, a recent study revealed that ACOs serving a greater proportion of racial/ethnic minorities scored worse on quality performance measures and that 37% of ACOs had no formal relationship with a mental health provider. Thus, the collaborative R01 seeks to establish community-ACO-academic partnerships to expand capacity for mental health care in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Researchers will test an innovative model that includes training community health workers to provide an integrated, evidence-based intervention in community settings linked to ACOs, and to determine the long-term sustainability of the intervention within ACO networks.