Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH
"My research focuses on primary care, currently in two areas: understanding cannabis use and integration of mental health services for adolescents."
Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW
Associate Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington School of Public Health
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Gwen.T.Lapham@kp.org
206-287-2021
Biography
Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW, is a Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) associate investigator and addictions health services researcher. She is also an assistant affiliate professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health at the University of Washington and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Systems Science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. She has more than 15 years’ experience in implementation and evaluation research to improve the prevention and treatment of unhealthy substance use in medical settings, first at Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound and now at Kaiser Permanente Washington. She has led analyses of large national and multisite real-world datasets and collaborated on diverse research focused on improving care for substance use.
Since joining KPWHRI, Dr. Lapham has capitalized on her social work and health services training to do impactful research on evidence-based primary care for unhealthy substance use, including alcohol, opioid, and cannabis use. She is currently co-leading a pragmatic, cluster-randomized, effectiveness-implementation trial testing 2 interventions to systematically implement shared decision-making for primary care patients with an alcohol use disorder. She is co-investigator for a study developing a patient decision aid to support discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy and another study designed to assess the social and behavioral determinants of health that impact medications for opioid use disorder. Dr. Lapham’s current research is also focused on evaluating the adverse health risks associated with cannabis use among primary care patients, including use among pregnant individuals, as well as testing the effectiveness of integrated behavioral health care, including routine substance use and suicide risk screening, for teens in primary care.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
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Behavior Change
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Addictions & Unhealthy Substance Use
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Health Services & Economics
Implementation research; quality measurement
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Implementation Research
Screening and brief intervention; mental health quality measurement
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Child & Adolescent Health
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Addictions
Prevention and treatment
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
Matson TE, Hallgren KA, Lapham GT, Oliver M, Wang X, Williams EC, Bradley KA Psychometric Performance of a Substance Use Symptom Checklist to Help Clinicians Assess Substance Use Disorder in Primary Care 2023 May;6(5):e2316283. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.16283. Epub 2023-05-01. PubMed
Lee AK, Bobb JF, Richards JE, Achtmeyer CE, Ludman E, Oliver M, Caldeiro RM, Parrish R, Lozano PM, Lapham GT, Williams EC, Glass JE, Bradley KA Integrating Alcohol-Related Prevention and Treatment Into Primary Care: A Cluster Randomized Implementation Trial 2023 Apr;183(4):319-328. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.7083. Epub 2023-02-27. PubMed
Kiel L, Hsu C, Wartko PD, Albertson-Junkans L, Ewing J, Lapham GT Perspectives from women who engaged in prenatal and postpartum cannabis use in a U.S. State with legal non-medical use 2023 Feb;31:102075. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.102075. Epub 2022-11-29. 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 2022 Dec;73(12):1330-1337. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202100665. Epub 2022-06-16. PubMed
Scherrer JF, Salas J, Grucza R, Wilens T, Quinn PD, Sullivan MD, Rossom RC, Wright E, Piper B, Sanchez K, Lapham G Prescription stimulant use during long-term opioid therapy and risk for opioid use disorder 2022 Dec;5:100122. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100122. Epub 2022-11-24. PubMed
Hoopes AJ, Brandzel SD, Luce C, Ferguson DM, Shulman L, Chavez B, Lozano P, Lapham GT What Do Adolescents and Their Parents Need From Mental Health Integration in Primary Care? A Qualitative Exploration of Design Insights 2022 Nov doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2022.06.006. Epub 2022-08-08. PubMed
Matson TE, Lapham GT, Bobb JF, Oliver M, Hallgren KA, Williams EC, Bradley KA Validity of the Single-Item Screen-Cannabis (SIS-C) for Cannabis Use Disorder Screening in Routine Care 2022 Nov;5(11):e2239772. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.39772. Epub 2022-11-01. PubMed
Coley RY, Duan KI, Hoopes AJ, Lapham GT, Liljenquist K, Marcotte LM, Ramirez M, Schuttner L A call to integrate health equity into learning health system research training 2022 Oct;6(4):e10330. doi: 10.1002/lrh2.10330. Epub 2022-07-24. PubMed
Lapham GT, Matson TE, Carrell DS, Bobb JF, Luce C, Oliver MM, Ghitza UE, Hsu C, Browne KC, Binswanger IA, Campbell CI, Saxon AJ, Vandrey R, Schauer GL, Pacula RL, Horberg MA, Bailey SR, McClure EA, Bradley KA Comparison of Medical Cannabis Use Reported on a Confidential Survey vs Documented in the Electronic Health Record Among Primary Care Patients 2022 May 2;5(5):e2211677. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.11677. Epub 2022-05-02. PubMed
Browne K, Leyva Y, Malte CA, Lapham GT, Tiet QQ Prevalence of medical and nonmedical cannabis use among veterans in primary care 2022 Mar;36(2):121-130. doi: 10.1037/adb0000725. Epub 2021-08-26. PubMed
Research
A single question helps identify patients at higher risk of cannabis use disorder
1 in 5 people who use cannabis daily at risk for moderate to severe use disorder.
Research
A better approach to prevent teen suicide deaths
New grant funds crucial work to test effectiveness of teen suicide prevention in primary care.
News
Training scientists to transform health care
Five years and 8 scholars later, KPWHRI celebrates the impact of the CATALyST training program on early-career scientists.
Research
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
Is medical use of cannabis as risky as nonmedical use?
New findings indicate medical cannabis use is associated with a lower risk of moderate to severe cannabis use disorder.
KPWHRI In the media
Improving opioid use disorder treatment with nurse care management
Nurses, access to medication expand treatment for opioid use disorder
Medscape, Dec. 19, 2024
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