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Behavioral health

Supporting mental health in primary and specialty care

Our behavioral health research program is a national and local model for integrated research and practice. We lead and collaborate in research to improve mental health care. We contribute to the Mental Health Research Network (MHRN), a national collaboration involving 14 integrated health systems across the country. The MHRN serves as a model for learning health systems and mental health services research.

Areas of focus include:

  • Improving depression care in primary care
  • Understanding the early course of bipolar disorder
  • Predicting and preventing suicide
  • Guiding primary care in the treatment of opioid use disorder
  • Improving physical activity and co-occurring medical conditions for patients with mental conditions

Investigators

Key projects and studies

MAP to Health physical activity study

Research has shown that people who have a stronger sense of meaning or purpose live longer and are less likely to have heart attacks or develop chronic diseases. This pilot study uses a personalized text-based program designed to help people be more physically active. A brief assessment is used to determine which physical activities participants enjoy and what things they find meaningful. Participants create a physical activities calendar and receive personalized text messages based on their motivations, to help increase their physical activity.

Informing early intervention for people with bipolar disorder

People with bipolar disorder experience recurrent and debilitating episodes of depression and mania which can lead to impairments in functioning and high rates of morbidity and mortality. Research suggests that intervening as early as possible may be important for achieving long-term recovery. However, on average, people with bipolar disorder experience delays of 6-10 years in diagnosis and treatment, missing a potential critical window of intervention. This study examines health care use in the two years before and two years after the initial diagnosis of bipolar disorder. This could inform early detection and highlight gaps in care during a critical period following initial diagnosis.

Treating opioid use disorder in primary care settings

In a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an intervention successfully increased prescriptions of medications to treat opioid use disorder and rescue medications (naloxone) within one month for patients with or at risk for opioid use disorder in intervention clinics compared to patients in control clinics. The study was conducted at HealthPartners, Geisinger Health in Pennsylvania and Essentia Health in rural Minnesota. Primary care clinicians in the intervention clinics used a clinical decision support tool, called Opioid Wizard, to help them recognize and treat opioid use disorder. Almost 11,000 patients in 92 primary care clinics participated in the study.

Improving heart disease risk for people with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia

On average, people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia die 10-20 years earlier than the general population. Heart disease is their leading cause of death. Researchers at HealthPartners and Essentia Health studied the impact of a clinical decision support tool, called Cardiovascular Wizard, on heart disease risk factors for primary care patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Across 76 primary care clinics, nearly 9,000 patients participated. Patients in intervention clinics had lower total modifiable risk for heart disease at one year than patients in control clinics.

Assessing the impact of virtual mental health care during COVID-19

With partners in the Mental Health Research Network, we are analyzing how changing from in-person to phone- or video-visits during the COVID-19 crisis disrupted care of people with mental health conditions, including those in potentially disadvantaged subgroups. This work will help us understand who needs more support during crises. It will also help us determine who benefits most from telehealth visits as behavioral health care transitions to using more of these services.

Intervention to decrease suicide risk for people recently released from jail

People who have interactions with the criminal legal system have an estimated risk of suicide death 8-14 times higher than the general population. In partnership with Henry Ford Health in Michigan, our study uses a comprehensive intervention that includes care coordination with suicide screening, safety planning and a clinical intervention called the Coping Long-Term with Active Suicide Program (CLASP). The aim is to reduce suicide risk for HealthPartners patients recently released from local county jails. Around 1,000 people across the two sites will be invited to participate.

Key publications

Learn more about our behavioral health investigators and their publications by visiting Knowledge Exchange.