Joseph E. Glass, PhD, MSW

Biography

Joe 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’ research seeks to understand how effective health care interventions for unhealthy alcohol and drug use can reach more people. His research seeks to answer these questions:

Why do so few people receive help for their unhealthy drinking and drug use?
How can we change this?
How can health systems make better use of effective treatments?
In what ways could our current treatments for addiction be improved?
Is care for unhealthy alcohol use delivered equitably?

Much of Dr. Glass’ recent work, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Kaiser Permanente, is studying approaches for routinely using smartphone and web-based treatments for unhealthy alcohol and drug use in health care. After receiving an MSW from the University of Michigan, Dr. Glass spent three years as a social worker at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System. As a licensed clinical social worker in a large mental health clinic, he developed expertise in social work case management and evidence-based treatments for anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Much of his research is driven by his clinical experiences, considering the many people struggling with both mental health difficulties and unhealthy substance use who have yet to receive addiction treatment.

Dr. Glass is an affiliate assistant professor of health services and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, at the University of Washington.

Research interests and experience

Behavior Change

Unhealthy alcohol and drug use
Health Services & Economics

Access and treatment-seeking patterns
Health Informatics

Smartphone and web-based interventions in health care
Addictions

Prevention and treatment
Mental Health
Social Determinants of Health

Recent publications

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. Prevalence and treatment of opioid use disorders among primary care patients in six health systems. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;207:107732. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107732. Epub 2019 Nov 15. PubMed

Richards JE, Shortreed SM, Simon GE, Penfold RB, Glass JE, Ziebell R, Williams EC. Short-term risk of suicide attempt associated with patterns of patient-reported alcohol use determined by routine AUDIT-C among adults receiving mental healthcare. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2020 Jan-Feb;62:79-86. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.12.002. Epub 2019 Dec 18. PubMed

Frost MC, Glass JE, Bradley KA, Williams EC. Documented brief intervention associated with reduced linkage to specialty addictions treatment in a national sample of VA patients with unhealthy alcohol use with and without alcohol use disorders. Addiction. 2020 Apr;115(4):668-678. doi: 10.1111/add.14836. Epub 2019 Dec 11. 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. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019 Aug 1;201:134-141. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.04.015. Epub 2019 Jun 8. PubMed

Goldberg SB, Simpson TL, Lehavot K, Katon JG, Chen JA, Glass JE, Schnurr PP, Sayer NA, Fortney JC. Mental health treatment delay: a comparison among civilians and veterans of different service eras. Psychiatr Serv. 2019 May 1;70(5):358-366. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201800444. Epub 2019 Mar 7. PubMed