Welcome to this free resource for sharing information about community and health care interventions that could work in your community and/or health care setting. We have created easy-to- understand research summaries of different studies and provided links to the full study materials, if you want more in-depth information. We hope you find this useful and invite you to share these resources and documents with colleagues and others.
These research summaries are provided by the REACH Dissemination Committee based on a full study created by others.
Project Collaborators of the REACH Dissemination Committee include key personnel and advisory panel members that represent the three largest health systems in Maine, The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Council on Aging, Community Care Partnership of Maine, and Maine Area Health Education Center.
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AI Diabetic Retinopathy Screening in a Primary Care Setting in Rural Maine
Rachel Heuer MD, Emma DayBranch MPH, Anastasia Tsomides DO, Jessica F. DiBiase MPH, Neil Korsen MD, and Brian Nolan MD
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness globally. Early diagnosis and treatment reduce the risk of vision loss by 98%.
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Behavioral Health Integration and Outcomes that Matter to Patients: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Observational Study
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The study team hypothesized that patients would have a better experience over time in clinics that had greater degrees of behavioral health integration.
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Comparing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) versus Yoga for Helping Older Adults Address High Levels of Worry
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Some older adults have high levels of worry that cause them to feel restless, tired, or tense. Two ways to treat worry are Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and yoga.
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Comparing Long-Term Outcomes of Two Collaborative Care Approaches for People with Depression
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
People with depression usually get treatment in healthcare settings, such as clinics. In communities with few resources, people may also get help in community settings such as social services agencies or churches. Collaborative care brings together healthcare and community programs to help people with depression.
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Comparing Two Telehealth Approaches for Treating Psychiatric Disorders in Primary Care
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are community clinics that provide primary care in rural and other underserved areas. FQHCs often don’t have enough mental health specialists to treat patients with complex mental health conditions.
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Comparing Two Ways to Treat Serious Worry among Older Adults from Underserved, Racial or Ethnic Minority Communities
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Compared with other older adults, those with serious worry are more likely to have poor physical health, and often have depression, sleep problems, and trouble thinking clearly.
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Comparing Universal versus Targeted School Screenings for Depression among Teens
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The US Preventive Services Task Force endorses universal adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) screening in primary care; however, most adolescents lack preventive health care, resulting in worsening disparities in MDD screening and treatment.
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Comparing Ways to Ask Patients about Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Emergency Department (ED)
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Sexual and gender minority patients report higher satisfaction and comfort with ED encounters when SO/GI is collected along with other demographic information via a nonverbal, written method during patient registration.
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Does A Parent Peer Support Program Help Parents of Children Who Need Mental Health Services Support Their Child’s Care?
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The study aimed to assess the impact of a Family Navigator (FN) program developed to increase child behavioral therapy service utilization on parent and child outcomes.
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Does a Peer-Led Program with Wellness Coaching Improve Wellness among People with Serious Mental Illness?
REACH Dissemination Committee
People with serious mental illness, or SMI, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia often also have long-term physical health problems.
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Does a Program that Focuses on Lifestyle Changes Reduce Heart Disease Risk Factors in a Rural Community?
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Interventions like HeartHealth—that focus on self-care of heart disease risk factors and that are driven by collaboration with the community of interest—are effective in medically underserved, socioeconomically distressed rural areas.
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Does a Training Program for Mental Health Counselors Help Reduce Burnout and Improve Patient Care?
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
To understand the patient and clinician experience of burnout in mental health clinicians.
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Does a Video Chat Referral Process Help Families with Children Who Have Medicaid to Initiate Mental Health Care?
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Many children with Medicaid and mental health concerns don’t get the care they need.
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Does plain language key information on informed consent forms improve the informed consent experience for study participants?
Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi, Ifechi Augusta Okonkwo, Ye Chen, Noe Duenas, Timothy Bilodeau, Alice Rushforth, and Andreas Klein
Informed consent forms are hard to read and understand, but people need this information to make informed decisions about whether or not to participate in research.
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Effect of a Quality Improvement Initiative on Procedural Abortion Pain and Anxiety Using a Standardized Patient-Focused Sedation Options Counseling Guide
Stephanie Small PhD, WHNP, ANP
Sedation decreases the discomfort of pain and anxiety during a procedure.
Our quality improvement initiative using a standardized sedation options counseling guide to provide patient-focused counseling decreased pain, but not anxiety, during abortion procedures. This adjunct to established pain management options is a simple improvement on current practice.
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Evaluating a Program to Lower Prescription Opioid Doses for Patients with Chronic Pain
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Patients who use opioids for a long time are at increased risk for addiction, care crashes, overdose, & injuries.
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Evaluating a Training Program for Rural Doctors and Nursing Home Staff on Safe Medicine Use for Patients with Dementia and Nursing Home Residents
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Program goal: Reduce unnecessary use of certain medications without worsening symptoms
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Examining Effects of State Policies to Monitor Mental Health Medicines for Children in Foster Care
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Antipsychotics can have long-term risks but help treat conditions like schizophrenia.
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Examining Health Outcomes for People Who Are Transgender
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The Study of Transition, Outcomes, and Gender was initiated to assess morbidity among transgender people in general and after gender-affirming treatments.
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Helping Patients with Mental Illness Engage in Their Transitional Care
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Effective transitional care can keep patients from going back to the hospital.
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Improving Classroom Behaviors among Students with Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two school-based behavioral programs on improving executive functioning behaviors among students with symptoms of ADHD or ASD.
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Is a Patient Navigation Program More Helpful than a Referral Program for Reducing Depression and Improving Quality of Life among Women Living in Neighborhoods with Few Resources?
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The research team compared two programs designed to help women with feelings of depression who live in neighborhoods with few resources. Both programs lasted four months.
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Peer-Navigator Support for Latinx Patients with Serious Mental Illness
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
People who have a serious mental illness (SMI), are at higher risk for other health problems.
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Reaching Structurally Vulnerable Populations Using Low-Barrier COVID-19 Testing Clinics Co-Created with Community Based Organizations
David Ngandu, Gloria Sclar, Ambia Ahmed, Sumayo A Awale, Caroline Fernandes, Joshua Goldstein, Hina Hashmi, Shruti Joshi, and et al.
The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected people from structurally vulnerable communities. There was a need to improve COVID-19 testing in these communities to reduce viral spread and connect to treatment.
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Testing a Clinic-Based Program to Reduce Risky Behaviors among Teens
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Risky behaviors, including eating poorly, not getting enough sleep or exercise, using drugs, and not wearing a helmet or seatbelt often emerge during the teen years.
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Testing a Peer Support Program for Parents of Infants Going Home from the NICU
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
U.S. newborns requiring care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have an increased risk of long-term disability, and short-term or ongoing specialty care.
Parents of these infants report increased anxiety and stress in the NICU and after discharge.
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Testing a Standard Approach to Match Patients with Addiction on to Treatment Based on Their Needs
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
The study suggests that use of the ASAM standard of care approach to match patients to treatment may result in improved retention in residential treatment and better patient information and shared decision-making about level of-care decisions.
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Treating Chronic Pain Using Approaches Adapted for Patients with Limited Reading Skills
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Patients with chronic pain may find some psychosocial interventions to be effective but for those with limited reading skills, it can be hard to understand and use these options.
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Understanding the Role of Misinformation in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in a Rural State
Ann Marie Hess, Colin T. Waters, Elizabeth A. Jacobs, Kerri L. Barton, and Kathleen M. Fairfield
Findings from this study regarding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and sources of trusted information are important for developing public health strategies to increase vaccination rates. Understanding the concerns of individuals as assessed in this study provides opportunities for trusted health professionals, friends and family to reinforce facts about the importance of being vaccinated.
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Using a Transitional Care Program to Prepare Patients to Take Care of Themselves after Leaving the Hospital
REACH Dissemination Committee, Maine, USA
Some patients have difficulty caring for themselves after they return home from a hospital stay.
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Why did some rural Mainers accept novel COVID-19 vaccines when rolled out in 2021, while others did not?
Michael Kohut PhD, Liz Scharnetzki, Joseph Pajka, Elizabeth Jacobs, and Kathleen Fairfield
Many people, especially in rural areas of the United States, choose not to receive novel COVID-19 vaccinations despite public health recommendations.
Understanding how people describe decisions to get vaccinated or not may help to address hesitancy.