Dennis P Watson

Chestnut Health Systems · Lighthouse Institute

To depathologize transgender (trans) healthcare, revisions have been made to two documents used in the treatment of trans people. First, the 7 th Version of the Standards of Care (SOC-7) removed a lengthy therapeutic relationship and real-life experience (RLE), replacing these with a gender assessment. The second was a shift in language from Gender...

Introduction: The nation's overdose epidemic has been characterized by increasingly potent opioids resulting in more emergency department (ED) encounters over time. ED-based opioid use interventions are growing in popularity; however, they tend to treat people who use opioids as a homogenous population. The current study sought to understand heter...

Background In recent years, emergency departments (EDs) across the nation have implemented peer recovery coach (PRC) services to support patients who use opioids. The majority of such interventions discussed in the literature follow an in-person modality where PRCs engage patients directly at the ED bedside. However, the use of telehealth services...

Background: In recent years, emergency departments (EDs) across the nation have implemented peer recovery coach (PRC) services to support patients who use opioids. The majority of such interventions discussed in the literature follow an in-person modality where PRCs engage patients directly at the emergency department bedside. However, the use of t...

Background In an effort to address the current opioid epidemic, a number of hospitals across the United States have implemented emergency department-based interventions for engaging patients presenting with opioid use disorder. The current study seeks to address gaps in knowledge regarding implementation of a sub-type of such interventions, emergen...

Background and aims: Recovery management checkups (RMC) have established efficacy for linking patients to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. This study tested whether using RMC in combination with screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), versus SBIRT alone, can improve linkage of primary care patients referred to SUD...

Background Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), particularly opioid use disorder (OUD), who are criminal justice-involved are a particularly vulnerable population that has been adversely affected by COVID-19 due to impacts of the pandemic on both the criminal justice and treatment systems. The manuscript presents qualitative data and fin...

Background: The decades-long opioid epidemic and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic are two interacting events with significant public health impacts for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Most published studies regarding the intersection of these two public health crises have focused on community, state, or national trends using pre-existing d...

Introduction Individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) must be linked to community-based SUD treatment and other services upon their release from jail, given their high service needs and risks for relapse, recidivism, and opioid-related overdose following release. Method This scoping review identified 14 studies (28 affiliated publications) t...

Transitioning out of a military career can be difficult and stressful for Veterans. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the challenges and needs of career transitioning Veterans. Fifteen United States Veterans from a larger mixed methods research project completed a qualitative semi-structured interview regarding thei...

Background Brief treatment (BT) can be an effective, short-term, and low-cost treatment option for many people who misuse alcohol and drugs. However, inconsistent implementation is suggested to result in BT that often looks and potentially costs similar to regular outpatient care. Prior research is also rife with inconsistent operationalizations re...

The Recovery Coach and Peer Support Initiative (RCPSI) in Indiana focused on implementing peer recovery coaches (PRCs) to engage opioid overdose patients in emergency department (ED) settings and promote entry into recovery services. State workers and researchers organized an informal learning collaborative primarily through teleconference meetings...

This brief commentary discusses how provider organizations from Indiana's Recovery Coach and Peer Support Initiative (RCPSI) adapted their practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. The RCPSI, which is funded through the 21st Century Cures Act, placed peer recovery coaches (PRCs) in emergency departments (EDs) to li...

Background. A key strategy for mitigating the current opioid epidemic is expanded access to medications for treating opioid use disorder (MOUD). However, interventions developed to expand MOUD access have limited ability to engage opioid users at higher levels of overdose risk, such as those who inject opioids. This paper describes the study protoc...

Background There is a high risk of death from opioid overdose following release from prison. Efforts to develop and implement overdose prevention programs for justice-involved populations have increased in recent years. An understanding of the gaps in knowledge on prevention interventions is needed to accelerate development, implementation, and dis...

Background This manuscript provides a research update to the ongoing pragmatic trial of Project POINT (Planned Outreach, Intervention, Naloxone, and Treatment), an emergency department-based peer recovery coaching intervention for linking patients with opioid use disorder to evidence-based treatment. The research team has encountered a number of ch...

Background In recent years, a number of emergency department (ED)-based interventions have been developed to provide supports and/or treatment linkage for people who use opioids. However, there is limited research supporting the effectiveness of the majority of these interventions. Project POINT is an ED-based intervention aimed at providing opioid...

Previously incarcerated persons with substance use disorder (SUD) need recovery supports, given the overrepresentation of this population in prison and community supervision. Peer support programs have the potential to fill gaps in postrelease support for persons with SUD. To assess the effectiveness of peer support approaches, this pilot study ran...

This article explains how jail diversion introduced in one Midwestern county changed its focus over time from persons with serious mental illness (PSMI) to persons with opioid use disorder (POUD). Applying the theory of institutional isomorphism, the authors use both qualitative interview and quantitative program data to explore the isomorphic pres...

Peer-facilitated services in behavioral health care remain underutilized within criminal justice-involved community organizations, and there is little guidance for how to best involve peer workers in behavioral health-focused research activities. This paper described lessons learned regarding implementation of peer recovery coaches (PRCs) as part o...

Background: Implementation science’s focus on establishing implementation strategy effectiveness has overshadowed the need to understand differential performance of such strategies under various conditions. Methods allowing for assessment between implementation context and process can help address this gap. This article provides a detailed descript...

Incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorders (OUD) should be linked to community-based treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) upon their release, as well as to services that provide support for their ongoing recovery. The RMC-A experiment will test an adapted version of the evidence-based Recovery Management Checkups (RMC),...

Background Binge drinking among young adults aged 18-21 years has declined over the past decade, but binge drinking rates among people 22-25 years old have remained largely the same. This steady trend in later years represents a departure from the traditional course of maturing out of risky alcohol use, perhaps because young adults are delaying the...

Background: Africans immigrants in the United States are the least-studied immigrant group, despite the research and policy efforts to address health disparities within immigrant communities. Although their healthcare experiences and needs are unique, they are often included in the "black" category, along with other phenotypically-similar groups....

Solving the opioid crisis requires immediate, innovative, and sustainable solutions. A number of promising strategies are being carried out by U.S. states and territories as part of their Opioid State Targeted Response (STR) plans funded through the 21st Century Cures Act, and they provide an opportunity for researchers to assess effectiveness of t...

Background: Africans immigrants in the United States are the least-studied immigrant group, despite the research and policy efforts to address health disparities within immigrant communities. Although their healthcare experiences and needs are unique, they are often included in the “black” category, along with other phenotypically-similar groups. T...

Background: Africans immigrants in the United States are the least-studied immigrant group, despite the research and policy efforts to address health disparities within immigrant communities. Although their healthcare experiences and needs are unique, they are often included in the “black” category, along with other phenotypically-similar groups. T...

Background: We examine racial disparities in drug overdose death rates by analyzing trends in fatal and nonfatal overdose outcomes in a large metropolitan area (Indianapolis, Indiana). Methods: Death certificate and toxicology records for accidental drug overdose deaths from 2011 to 2018 were linked with emergency medical services (EMS) data. Bi...

The 21st Century Cures Act is the most significant piece of U.S. legislation aimed at tackling the opioid epidemic to date. This special issue comprises papers reflecting medication-assisted treatment (MAT)-related research made possible through the Cures Act-authorized State Targeted Response (STR) grant mechanism. Work related to both STR evaluat...

Background: Africans immigrants in the United States are the least-studied immigrant group, despite the research and policy efforts to address health disparities within immigrant communities. Although their healthcare experiences and needs are unique, they are often lumped into the “black” category, along with other phenotypically-similar groups. T...

Project POINT (Planned Outreach, Intervention, Naloxone, and Treatment (hereafter referred to simply as POINT) is a quality improvement initiative of Eskenazi Hospital’s emergency department (ED) and Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services (IEMS) that emerged in 2015 as a response to the City’s opioid epidemic. POINT started with two simple goals:...

Emergency department (ED)-based peer support programs aimed at linking persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) to medication for addiction treatment and other recovery services are a promising approach to addressing the opioid crisis. This brief report draws on experiences from three states' experience with such programs funded by the SAMHSA Opioid...

Background: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest(OHCA) affects nearly 400,000 people each year in the UnitedStates of which only 10% survive. Using data from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), and machine learning (ML) techniques, we developed a model of neurological outcome prediction for OHCA in Chicago, Illinois. Methods: Rescue...

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The objective of this study was to prospectively assess caregiver-perceived barriers to accessing post-acute care for their injured child and determine if caregivers report ongoing, unmet health needs for their children after trauma. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This was a prospective cohort study that followed 50 participant...

The Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) provided individuals and families who were either at-risk or currently experiencing homelessness with time-limited financial and housing support services. Evaluations of HPRP showed a high rate of family placement into permanent housing. However, little research has explored immediate...

Objectives: To demonstrate the severity of undercounting opioid-involved deaths in a local jurisdiction with a high proportion of unspecified accidental poisoning deaths. Methods: We matched toxicology data to vital records for all accidental poisoning deaths (n = 1238) in Marion County, Indiana, from January 2011 to December 2016. From vital re...

Background: This paper discusses the initial testing of the Housing First Training and Technical Assistance (HFTAT) Program, a multifaceted, distance-based strategy for the implementation of the Housing First (HF) supportive housing model. HF is a complex housing intervention for serving people living with serious mental illness and a substance us...

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT), a widely-used assessment of the health and social vulnerabilities and housing needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. Homeless Management Information System data were obtained for 1495 individuals who were...

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The objective of this study is to determine predictors and motives for sustained opioid use, prescription misuse, and nonmedical opioid use in the adolescent trauma population. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This is a prospective cohort study that will follow patients for 1 year and administer surveys to patients on prescriptio...

Background: In response to widespread opioid misuse, ten U.S. states have implemented regulations for facilities that primarily manage and treat chronic pain, called "pain clinics." Whether a clinic falls into a state's pain clinic definition determines the extent to which it is subject to oversight. It is unclear whether state pain clinic definit...

RESEARCH AIMS To accurately record the substances that are found within each overdose fatality that occurs in Marion County, Indiana. METHODS The toxicology data in this study come from the Marion County Coroner's Office (MCCO) which has jurisdiction over all drug-related overdoses and associated death certificates. Each time there is a new fatal...

A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health - edited by Teresa L. Scheid June 2017

Background To reduce fatal drug overdoses, two approaches many states have followed is to pass laws expanding naloxone access and Good Samaritan protections for lay persons with high likelihood to respond to an opioid overdose. Most prior research has examined attitudes and knowledge among lay responders in large metropolitan areas who actively use...

Background: Proper implementation of evidence-based interventions is necessary for their full impact to be realized. However, the majority of research to date has overlooked facilitators and barriers existing outside the boundaries of the implementing organization(s). Better understanding and measurement of the external implementation context woul...

In case conferences, health care providers work together to identify and address patients' complex social and medical needs. Public health nurses from the local health department joined case conference teams at federally qualified health center primary care sites to foster cross-sector collaboration, integration, and mutual learning. Public health...

Introduction: The opioid epidemic has been largely attributed to changes in prescribing practices over the past 20 years. Although current overdose trends appear driven by the opioid fentanyl, heroin has remained the focus of overdose fatality assessments. We obtained full toxicology screens on lethal overdose cases in a major US city, allowing mor...

Background: A comprehensive smoke-free air law was enacted on June 1, 2012 in most of Marion County, Indiana, including all of the City of Indianapolis. We evaluated changes in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) admission rates in Indianapolis and Marion County before compared to after the law. Methods: We collected AMI admissions from five Mario...

This is the fourth biannual evaluation report for the Indiana Medication Assisted Treatment Project (IMAP), which began in February 2016. IMAP aims to decrease barriers between providers and individuals with opioid use disorder living in Porter, Starke, and Scott counties through a partnership between the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addic...

Background There is a lack of evidence-based substance use disorder treatment and services targeting returning inmates. Substance Use Programming for Person-Oriented Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) is a community-driven, recovery-oriented approach to substance abuse care which has the potential to address this service gap. SUPPORT is modeled after...

Background Detailed descriptions of implementation strategies are lacking, and there is a corresponding dearth of information regarding methods employed in implementation strategy development. This paper describes methods and findings related to the alpha testing of eLearning modules developed as part of the Housing First Technical Assistance and T...

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Engagement in risky behaviors is not uncommon among adolescents. Two factors associated with risk taking are difficulty regulating emotions and impulsivity. Moreover, youth who exhibit higher scores on impulsivity-like personality traits (ie, negative urgency, positive urgency, sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, and...

The positive relationship between social support and mental health has been well documented, but individuals experiencing chronic homelessness face serious disruptions to their social networks. Housing First (HF) programming has been shown to improve health and stability of formerly chronically homeless individuals. However, researchers are only ju...

This is the third biannual evaluation report for the Indiana Medication Assisted Treatment Project (IMAP), which began in February 2016. IMAP aims to decreases barriers between providers and individuals with opioid use disorder living in Porter, Starke, and Scott counties through a partnership between the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addic...

Penn Place is a 38-unit permanent supportive housing program in Indianapolis, Indiana, that serves chronically homeless individuals with high medical vulnerability. Penn Place operates using a Housing First approach that emphasizes consumer choice in services. Penn Place engaged in six months of training and technical assistance to ensure faithful...

Background Housing First is an evidence-based practice intended to serve chronically homeless individuals with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorders. Despite housing active substance users, harm reduction is an often-overlooked element during the Housing First implementation process in real-world settings. In this paper, w...

Local and national evaluations of the federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) have demonstrated a high rate of placement of program participants in permanent housing. However, there is a paucity of research on the long-term outcomes of HPRP, and research on rehousing and prevention interventions for single adults experie...

This is the second biannual evaluation report for the Indiana Medication Assisted Treatment Project (IMAP), which began in February 2016. IMAP aims to decreases barriers between providers and individuals with opioid use disorder living in Porter, Starke, and Scott counties through a partnership between the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addi...

Drug-related overdoses are now the leading injury-related death in the USA, and many of these deaths are associated with illicit opioids and prescription opiate pain medication. This study uses multiple sources of data to examine accidental opioid overdoses across 6 years, 2010 through 2015, in Marion County, IN, an urban jurisdiction in the USA. T...

This is a formative evaluation report reflecting the first seven months of the Indiana Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)-Prescription Drug and Opioid Addition (PDOA) program. The Indiana MAT-PDOA program aims to decreases barriers between providers and individuals in rural communities in need of opioid addiction treatment. The project provides in...

Access to Recovery (ATR) is a SAMHSA-funded initiative that offers a mix of clinical and supportive services for substance abuse. ATR clients choose which services will help to overcome barriers in their road to recovery, and a recovery consultant provides vouchers and helps link the client to these community resources. One of ATR’s goals was to pr...

As part of the debate about screening for dementia, it is critical to understand why patients agree or disagree to diagnostic assessment after a positive screening test. We used the Perceptions Regarding Investigational Screening for Memory in Primary Care (PRISM-PC) questionnaire to measure the characteristics of patients who screened positive for...

The current study seeks to understand the concept of recovery from the perspectives of consumers and staff living and working in a supportive housing model designed to serve those with co-occurring disorder. Interview and focus group data were collected from consumers and staff from 4 housing programs. Data analyzed using an approach that combined...

The Housing First Model (HFM) was designed as an alternative to traditional abstinence-based housing for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. The model is now considered to be the preferred approach to ending homelessness due to the results of previous studies that have demonstrated its efficacy related to a number of health and social ou...

Background There is currently a lack of scientifically designed and tested implementation strategies. Such strategies are particularly important for highly complex interventions that require coordination between multiple parts to be successful. This paper presents a protocol for the development and testing of an implementation strategy for a comple...

In this paper, we examine the emergence of recovery as an organizing construct within the mental health system and consider how it is changing mental health policy and practice, particularly as it relates to the treatment of people with “serious mental illness.” Recovery is most simply understood as the belief that people with mental health problem...

For many individuals living with mental health and substance abuse problems, it is difficult to obtain the safety and security that are necessary components of recovery. This is because they do not have access to recourses such as food, housing, transportation, and employment that are needed to begin the process of stabilizing their lives. When the...