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
Chavez LJ, Bonny AE, Bradley KA, Lapham GT, Cooper J, Miller W, Chisolm DJ Medication Treatment and Health Care Use Among Adolescents With Opioid Use Disorder in Ohio 2020 Jul;67(1):33-39. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.01.016. Epub 2020-04-08. PubMed
Sayre M, Lapham GT, Lee AK, Oliver M, Bobb JF, Caldeiro RM, Bradley KA Routine Assessment of Symptoms of Substance Use Disorders in Primary Care: Prevalence and Severity of Reported Symptoms 2020 Apr;35(4):1111-1119. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-05650-3. Epub 2020-01-23. PubMed
Boudreau DM, Lapham G, Johnson EA, Bobb JF, Matthews AG, McCormack J, Liu D, Campbell CI, Rossom RC, Binswanger IA, Yarborough BJ, Arnsten JH, Cunningham CO, Glass JE, Murphy MT, Zare M, Hechter RC, Ahmedani B, Braciszewski JM, Horigian VE, Szapocznik J, Samet JH, Saxon AJ, Schwartz RP, Bradley KA Documented opioid use disorder and its treatment in primary care patients across six U.S. health systems 2020 Mar;112S:41-48. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2020.02.001. PubMed
Lapham G, Boudreau DM, Johnson EA, Bobb JF, Matthews AG, McCormack J, Liu D, Samet JH, Saxon AJ, Campbell CI, Glass JE, Rossom RC, Murphy MT, Binswanger IA, Yarborough BJH, Bradley KA, PROUD Collaborative Investigators Prevalence and treatment of opioid use disorders among primary care patients in six health systems 2020 Feb;207:107732. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107732. Epub 2019-11-15. PubMed
Williams EC, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Ludman EJ, Richards JE, Hawkins EJ, Merrill JO, Saxon AJ, Lapham GT, Matson TE, Chavez LJ, Caldeiro R, Greenberg DM, Kivlahan DR, Bradley KA Effect of a Care Management Intervention on 12-Month Drinking Outcomes Among Patients With and Without DSM-IV Alcohol Dependence at Baseline 2019 Aug 20 doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05261-7. PubMed
Williams EC, McGinnis KA, Tate JP, Matson TE, Rubinsky AD, Bobb JF, Lapham GT, Edelman EJ, Catz SL, Satre DD, Bryant KJ, Marshall BDL, Kraemer KL, Bensley KM, Richards JE, Skanderson M, Justice AC, Fiellin DA, Bradley KA HIV Disease Severity is Sensitive to Temporal Changes in Alcohol Use: A National Study of VA Patients with HIV 2019 Aug;81(4):448-455. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002049. PubMed
Richards JE, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Lapham GT, Williams EC, Glass JE, Ludman EJ, Achtmeyer C, Caldeiro RM, Oliver M, Bradley KA Integration of screening, assessment, and treatment for cannabis and other drug use disorders in primary care: An evaluation in three pilot sites 2019 Aug;201:134-141. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.04.015. Epub 2019-06-08. PubMed
Rubinsky AD, Chavez LJ, Berger D, Lapham GT, Hawkins EJ, Williams EC, Bradley KA Utility of routine alcohol screening for monitoring changes in alcohol consumption 2019 Aug;201:155-160. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.03.010. Epub 2019-05-08. PubMed
Chavez LJ, Bradley KA, Lapham GT, Wickizer TM, Chisolm DJ Identifying Problematic Substance Use in a National Sample of Adolescents Using Frequency Questions 2019 Jul;32(4):550-558. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2019.04.180284. PubMed
Bensley KM, Fortney J, Chan G, Dombrowski JC, Ornelas I, Rubinsky AD, Lapham GT, Glass JE, Williams EC Differences in Receipt of Alcohol-Related Care Across Rurality Among VA Patients Living With HIV With Unhealthy Alcohol Use 2019 Jun;35(3):341-353. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12345. Epub 2019-01-31. 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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