Joseph E. Glass, PhD, MSW

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“We need to increase the reach of addiction treatment within health care systems. Many more people could benefit from effective care.”

Joseph E. Glass, PhD, MSW

Associate Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Affiliate Associate Professor, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington

Biography

Joseph Glass, PhD, MSW, is an associate investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI). Before joining KPWHRI in July 2016, he was an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Social Work.

Dr. Glass’s research seeks to identify how effective health care interventions for unhealthy alcohol and drug use can reach more people. Much of his work aims to develop, test, and implement modern models of care that proactively deliver evidence-based treatments within health care settings and that intensively refer patients to specialty care while considering social determinants of health.

Dr. Glass’s work is informed by his practical experience in the field. After receiving a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan, Dr. Glass was a psychiatric social worker at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System. There he developed expertise in social work case management and evidence-based treatments for anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders.

He completed a 5-year career development award funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in 2021, which allowed him to obtain intensive training in clinical trials and implementation science. Currently, he has 2 active randomized controlled trials.

  • One is a 5-year grant awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse called the DIGITS Trial, which is testing strategies for improving how clinicians and patients use app-based treatments for substance use disorder in primary care.
  • Another study is the Addressing Barriers to Care Trial (ABC-SUD), which is a 5-year grant awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as part of the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science at Stanford. The ABC-SUD study is evaluating use of Care Navigators to improve the rate at which people successfully obtain treatment when they are referred to care.

Dr. Glass also co-leads a 2-year study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to validate and improve approaches for monitoring the quality of care for alcohol use disorder. He also enjoys serving as a co-investigator and consultant, providing expertise and support to studies led by his colleagues.

Dr. Glass is an affiliate associate professor of health systems and population health, and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, at the University of Washington.​​​​​

Research interests and experience


Sparc trial tools

Resources for behavioral health integration

The SPARC trial successfully implemented behavioral health care into primary care. On our website, you can access tools for behavioral health integration, as well as frequently asked questions and publications.


Recent publications

Frost MC, Hawkins EJ, Glass JE, Hallgren KA, Williams EC. Associations between distinct co-occurring substance use disorders and receipt of medications for opioid use disorder in the Veterans Health Administration. J Addict Med. 2023 May-Jun;17(3):278-285. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000001095. PubMed

Tilhou AS, Glass JE, Hetzel SJ, Shana OE, Borza T, Baltes A, Deyo BMF, Agarwal S, O'Rourke A, Brown RT. Association between spine injury and opioid misuse in a prospective cohort of Level I trauma patients. OTA Int. 2022 Jul 12;5(3):e205.1-6. doi: 10.1097/OI9.0000000000000205. eCollection 2022 Sep. PubMed

Braciszewski JM, Idu AE, Yarborough BJH, Stumbo SP, Bobb JF, Bradley KA, Rossom RC, Murphy MT, Binswanger IA, Campbell CI, Glass JE, Matson TE, Lapham GT, Loree AM, Barbosa-Leiker C, Hatch MA, Tsui JI, Arnsten JH, Stotts A, Horigian V, Hutcheson R, Bart G, Saxon AJ, Thakral M, Ling Grant D, Pflugeisen CM, Usaga I, Madziwa LT, Silva A, Boudreau DM. Sex differences in comorbid mental and substance use disorders among primary care patients with opioid use disorder. Psychiatr Serv. 2022 Jun 16:appips202100665. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202100665. Online ahead of print. PubMed

Brown RT, Deyo B, Nicholas C, Baltes A, Hetzel S, Tilhou A, Quanbeck A, Glass J, O'Rourke A, Agarwal S. Screening in Trauma for Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOMP): results from a prospective cohort of victims of traumatic injury. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 Mar 1;232:109286. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109286. Epub 2022 Jan 21. PubMed

Williams EC, Chen JA, Frost MC, Rubinsky AD, Edmonds AT, Glass JE, Lehavot K, Matson TE, Wheat CL, Coggeshall S, Blosnich JR. Receipt of evidence-based alcohol-related care in a national sample of transgender patients with unhealthy alcohol use: Overall and relative to non-transgender patients.  J Subst Abuse Treat. 2021 Jul 8:108565. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108565 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed

 

Healthy Findings Blog

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Understanding the needs of people seeking care for substance use

Joe Glass explores how to engage patients with treatment for alcohol or drug use.

Research

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Increasing opioid use disorder treatment in primary care

A trial led by KPWHRI researchers found that adding nurse care managers helped more people get needed treatment.

Research

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Better care for patients who drink alcohol

A new primary care approach improves alcohol-related preventive care as well as care for alcohol use disorder.