UA News

The UA is one of only 10 sites in the country receiving funding to test interventions to reduce disparities in health care.

The University of Arizona's department of psychiatry has received a $275,000 grant to study the use of telepsychiatry to treat depression in underserved Hispanics.

Telepsychiatry connects patients, psychiatrists, physicians and other healthcare professionals through the use of television cameras or webcams and microphones and it provides an array of services, including diagnosis and assessment, medication management and individual and group therapy.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Web site, “telepsychiatry is currently one of the most effective ways to increase access to psychiatric care for individuals living in underserved areas through video conferencing that can provide psychiatric services to patients living in remote locations or otherwise underserved areas.”

“The Internet has opened the possibility of delivering telepsychiatric care economically to places and areas that need – but do not have – specialist or culturally appropriate care,” said Dr. Francisco Moreno, co-principal investigator and an associate professor with the UA department of psychiatry.

Moreno added, “This project will compare the acceptability and effectiveness of depression treatment for low-income Hispanic patients provided by a psychiatrist through Internet videoconferencing using a webcam, with treatment-as-usual provided by the primary care provider.”

Along with Moreno, Jenny Chong, a research assistant professor with the UA's department of family and community medicine, is the other co-principal investigator on the project.

The UA grant is one component of a $2.5 million grant from the University of Chicago-based Robert Wood Grant Foundation. The larger grant, “Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change,” was spread nationally across 10 organizations, each with demonstrated abilities to develop and test interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The UA and other organizations were selected from 134 project proposals submitted by health-care leaders throughout the U.S.

UA study participants will be recruited from St. Elizabeth’s Health Center in Tucson, which serves uninsured and underinsured patients. The center is operated by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, Inc. Participants must be Hispanic and meet depression diagnosis and other criteria to be eligible.

The study will compare webcam treatment with standard face-to-face treatment provided by a primary care provider. Investigators will determine if webcam patients show greater improvement in mental and physical functional ability, report greater satisfaction and show a higher percentage of completed visits and medical compliance than patients in standard care.

The study also will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of providing treatment via webcam.

Decades of research shows that certain racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. receive lower-quality care. Without better knowledge about how to use practical steps to reduce disparities in care, health care organizations often are unable to address these gaps. Research indicates most efforts to date have led to limited improvements in reducing the gaps in care Americans receive.

“The work of these ‘Finding Answers’ grantees will help us to identify what works in terms of ensuring that all Americans receive the care they deserve,” said Dr. John R. Lumpkin, senior vice president and director of the Health Care Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The information [that] the [UA and other] grantees provide to “Finding Answers” will include obstacles to, and solutions for, implementing a tested intervention, start-up and maintenance costs for the intervention and staff training needs. "Finding Answers“ will evaluate the results and related information and then inform health care stakeholders – doctors, nurses, hospitals and health plans – about promising interventions that show the ability to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care.