Research Inititives of the Center for Integrated Behavioral Health Policy

The Center's research includes a comprehensive list of topics important to researchers, consumers, employers, health insurers and providers interested in all areas of behavioral health policy.

Veterans' Behavioral Health Overview

Since soldiers fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom began to return, there has been a call-to-action to improve the government's role in helping veterans cope with behavioral health problems. There are current efforts by the Department of Defense (DoD), Veteran's Affairs (VA), and various non-profit interest organizations to address the inadequacies of behavioral health services to veterans. The challenges include, reducing the stigma associated with mental health and substance issues, implementing relevant screening measures, and improving access to care.

Depression and Alcohol Screening May Benefit Employers

Depression, one of the leading causes of disability in the U.S., has a debilitating effect on U.S companies which lose upwards of $44 billion per year due to employee depression. Because more than 57 percent of adults who experienced a major depressive episode in 2004 also used alcohol, addressing these issues when they appear as dual disorders may greatly benefit many U.S. workplaces.

Health Information Privacy, Patient Safety, and Health Care Quality: Issues and Challenges in the Context of Treatment for Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Finding the right balance among health care quality, patient safety and health information privacy is a major policy challenge. No health issue better illustrates this challenge than the use and disclosure of personal mental health and substance use information in electronic health information systems.

Reimbursement Codes Change the Landscape of Substance Use Screening

Alcohol and drug use contributes to injury and often complicates healthcare. The recent development of medical reimbursement codes for alcohol and substance use assessment and brief intervention may help primary care providers, trauma professionals, and behavioral health counselors more readily establish alcohol and drug screening as routine practice.

Workplace SBI Survey Report (Executive Summary)

The 2007 Workplace SBI Survey is a biennial review of alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) activities and services offered to employees. The Executive Summary presents the survey findings based on the responses of employers and behavioral health vendors across the U.S., representing a wide-range of industry sectors and company sizes.