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
Kline-Simon AH, Stumbo SP, Campbell CI, Binswanger IA, Weisner C, Haller IV, Hechter RC, Ahmedani BK, Lapham GT, Loree AM, Sterling SA, Yarborough BJH Patient characteristics associated with treatment initiation and engagement among individuals diagnosed with alcohol and other drug use disorders in emergency department and primary care settings 2019 Jan;40(3):278-284. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1547812. Epub 2019-01-31. PubMed
Loree AM, Yeh HH, Satre DD, Kline-Simon AH, Yarborough BJH, Haller IV, Campbell CI, Lapham GT, Hechter RC, Binswanger IA, Weisner C, Ahmedani BK Psychiatric comorbidity and Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures of alcohol and other drug treatment initiation and engagement across 7 health care systems 2019 Jan;40(3):311-317. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1545727. Epub 2019-01-25. PubMed
Hechter RC, Horberg MA, Weisner C, Campbell CI, Contreras R, Chen LH, Yarborough BJH, Lapham GT, Haller IV, Ahmedani BK, Binswanger IA, Kline-Simon AH, Satre DD Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures of alcohol and drug treatment initiation and engagement among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and patients without an HIV diagnosis 2019 Jan;40(3):302-310. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2019.1580239. Epub 2019-03-25. PubMed
Lapham GT, Campbell CI, Yarborough BJH, Hechter RC, Ahmedani BK, Haller IV, Kline-Simon AH, Satre DD, Loree AM, Weisner C, Binswanger IA The prevalence of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) initiation and engagement in treatment among patients with cannabis use disorders in 7?US health systems 2019 Jan;40(3):268-277. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1544964. Epub 2019-01-18. PubMed
Campbell CI, Weisner C, Binswanger IA, Lapham GT, Ahmedani BK, Yarborough BJH, Haller IV, Altschuler A, Hechter RC, Loree AM, Kline-Simon AH Predictors of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) treatment initiation and engagement among patients with opioid use disorder across 7 health systems 2019 Jan;40(3):328-334. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1545729. Epub 2019-01-24. PubMed
Williams EC, McGinnis KA, Edelman EJ, Matson TE, Gordon AJ, Marshall BDL, Bryant KJ, Rubinsky AD, Lapham GT, Satre DD, Richards JE, Catz SL, Fiellin DA, Justice AC, Bradley KA Level of Alcohol Use Associated with HIV Care Continuum Targets in a National U.S. Sample of Persons Living with HIV Receiving Healthcare 2019 Jan;23(1):140-151. doi: 10.1007/s10461-018-2210-6. PubMed
Weisner C, Campbell CI, Altschuler A, Yarborough BJH, Lapham GT, Binswanger IA, Hechter RC, Ahmedani BK, Haller IV, Sterling SA, McCarty D, Satre DD, Kline-Simon AH Factors associated with Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) alcohol and other drug measure performance in 2014-2015 2019 Jan;40(3):318-327. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1545728. Epub 2019-01-24. PubMed
Binswanger IA, Carroll NM, Ahmedani BK, Campbell CI, Haller IV, Hechter RC, McNeely J, Yarborough BJH, Kline-Simon AH, Satre DD, Weisner C, Lapham GT The association between medical comorbidity and Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures of treatment initiation and engagement for alcohol and other drug use disorders 2019 Jan;40(3):292-301. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2018.1545726. Epub 2019-01-24. PubMed
Lapham GT, Lee AK, Caldeiro RM, Glass JE, Carrell DS, Richards JE, Bradley KA Prevalence of Behavioral Health Conditions Across Frequency of Cannabis Use Among Adult Primary Care Patients in Washington State 2018 Nov;33(11):1833-1835. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4558-8. PubMed
Glass JE, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Richards JE, Lapham GT, Ludman E, Achtmeyer C, Caldeiro RM, Parrish R, Williams EC, Lozano P, Bradley KA Study protocol: a cluster-randomized trial implementing Sustained Patient-centered Alcohol-related Care (SPARC trial) 2018 Aug 6;13(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13012-018-0795-9. Epub 2018-08-06. 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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