Elizabeth Brooks

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Colorado

This investigation examined immediate and seven-week delayed recall by 104 children (ages 6 to 8years) for a simulated misdemeanor bicycle theft in which gender-role characteristics and sex of criminal were manipulated (i.e., masculine male, feminine male, feminine female, masculine female). Children recalled criminal appearance, central crime, per...

Background: The need to keep physicians healthy and in practice is critical as demand for doctors grows faster than the supply. Workplace wellness programmes can improve employee health and retain skilled workers. Aims: To broaden our understanding about ways to help doctors coping with mental health problems and to develop population-informed w...

Objective: Document current risk factors associated with physicians' suicide ideation among a group of doctors enrolled in a Physician Health Program. Methods: Retrospective cohort study drawn from administrative data. Compared intake information between doctors who reported recent thoughts of suicide (n = 70) and those who did not (n = 1,572) u...

Keeping medical practitioners healthy is an important consideration for workforce satisfaction and retention, as well as public safety. However, there is limited evidence demonstrating how to best care for this group. The absence of data is related to the lack of available funding in this area of research. Supporting investigations that examine phy...

Introduction: Passage of voter-driven marijuana reform laws signals a shift in public attitudes for marijuana use. For providers, legalization may necessitate practice modifications, particularly regarding patient-provider conversations about use and risk. We examined healthcare providers' knowledge of marijuana laws and health implications, profe...

Background Physicians are not immune to cognitive impairment. Because of the risks created by practising doctors with these issues, some have suggested developing objective, population-specific measures of evaluation and screening guidelines to assess dysfunction. However, there is very little published information from which to construct such reso...

Objectives: Many work to ensure that women veterans receive appropriate and timely health care, yet the needs of those living in rural areas are often ignored. This is a critical oversight given the multitude of reports documenting rural access problems and health disparities. Lacking this, we are unable to plan for and evaluate appropriate care f...

Many Native veterans-including American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders (NHPI)-have served in the United States Armed Forces. Most of these veterans are eligible for medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), but research examining the determinants of their service use is needed to inform policy and...

Objectives: We conducted an exploratory study to determine what organizational characteristics predict the provision of culturally competent services for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) veterans in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health facilities. Methods: In 2011 to 2012, we adapted the Organizational Readiness to Change Assessme...

While many women choose to live in rural areas after retiring from active military duty, a paucity of studies examine rural women veterans' health care needs. This report is the first of its kind to describe the population demographics and health care utilization of rural female veteran patients enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)....

Background: The purpose of this document is to provide initial recommendations to telemental health (TMH) professionals for the selection of assessment and outcome measures that best reflect the impacts of mental health treatments delivered via live interactive videoconferencing. Materials and methods: The guidance provided here was created thro...

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) signed a Memo of Understanding in 2010 to strengthen their partnership in improving health care services for Native veterans, who are disproportionately rural. This paper describes the demographic and service use profile of rural Native veterans who access VA health care. D...

Background Physician health programmes (PHPs) are peer-assistance organizations that provide support to physicians struggling with addiction or with physical or mental health challenges. While the services they offer are setting new standards for recovery and care, they are not immune to public debate and criticism since some have concerns about th...

Abstract Many providers are hesitant to use telemental health technologies. When providers are queried, various barriers are presented, such as the clinician's skepticism about the effectiveness of telemental health (TMH), viewing telehealth technologies as inconvenient, or reporting difficulties with medical reimbursement. Provider support for TMH...

Objective: Providing specialized healthcare to rural communities can be extremely difficult, and consequently many health organizations are turning to the use of telehealth technologies for care delivery. One such technology, remote monitoring, has been successfully implemented with patients suffering from chronic and other medical conditions. A d...

There is growing evidence that physician health programs (PHPs) are an important component in physicians' recovery from substance disorders, although we do not know how variations in treatment and monitoring affect physician recovery. This study was designed to understand how programmatic differences impact clients' overall program completion. This...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is widespread among veterans, but many veterans with PTSD use few health services. This study examined how individual characteristics influenced use of outpatient visits by veterans with PTSD. The study assessed number of annual visits by 414,748 veterans with PTSD who sought care from October 2007 through Septe...

Rural American Indian veterans have unique healthcare needs and face numerous barriers to accessing healthcare services. Over the past decade, the Department of Veterans Affairs in conjunction with the University of Colorado Denver has turned to the promising field of telemental health to develop a series of videoconferencing-based clinics to reach...

While it is generally acknowledged that self-prescribing among physicians poses some risk, research finds such behaviour to be common and in certain cases accepted by the medical community. Largely absent from the literature is knowledge about other activities doctors perform for their own medical care or for the informal treatment of family and fr...

This study examined use by American Indian and Alaska Native veterans of services provided by specialty telemental health clinics focused on posttraumatic stress disorder. These clinics offer services via videoconferencing to address challenges faced by rural veterans in accessing care. A retrospective chart and electronic medical record review was...

Managing and treating physicians with professional boundary violations is of paramount importance with vast implications for public safety. Physician Health Programs (PHPs) evaluate and monitor many, if not most, physicians receiving care for these abuses. We conducted a chart review of 120 physicians monitored for boundary violations. We made inte...

Mental health issues are a serious concern for many American Indian Veterans, especially for post-traumatic stress disorder and related psychiatric conditions. Yet, acquiring mental health treatment can be a challenge in Native communities where specialized services are largely unavailable. Consequently, telehealth is increasingly being suggested a...

The use of tobacco by physicians with substance abuse histories is drastically understudied. A chart review of 1319 physicians enrolled in a physician health program found tobacco use highest for those referred for substance abuse problems (58.1%). Among a subset of currently monitored substance abusers, all those who relapsed during monitoring wer...

Telepsychiatry differs from in-person treatment in terms of its delivery mechanism, and this dissimilarity may increase cultural differences between the provider and the patient. Because cultural competence and identification can impact patient satisfaction ratings, we wanted to explore whether cultural differences in our study population influence...

This study compared direct costs of conducting structured clinical interviews via real-time interactive videoconferencing (known as telehealth) versus standard in-person methods with American Indians in rural locations. Psychiatrists administered in person and via telehealth on two occasions the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R to 53 non...