Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH
"My research focuses on primary care, currently in two areas: understanding cannabis use and integration of mental health services for adolescents."
Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW
Associate Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington School of Public Health
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
Gwen.T.Lapham@kp.org
206-287-2021
Biography
Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW, is a Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) associate investigator and addictions health services researcher. She is also an assistant affiliate professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health at the University of Washington and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Systems Science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. She has more than 15 years’ experience in implementation and evaluation research to improve the prevention and treatment of unhealthy substance use in medical settings, first at Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound and now at Kaiser Permanente Washington. She has led analyses of large national and multisite real-world datasets and collaborated on diverse research focused on improving care for substance use.
Since joining KPWHRI, Dr. Lapham has capitalized on her social work and health services training to do impactful research on evidence-based primary care for unhealthy substance use, including alcohol, opioid, and cannabis use. She is currently co-leading a pragmatic, cluster-randomized, effectiveness-implementation trial testing 2 interventions to systematically implement shared decision-making for primary care patients with an alcohol use disorder. She is co-investigator for a study developing a patient decision aid to support discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy and another study designed to assess the social and behavioral determinants of health that impact medications for opioid use disorder. Dr. Lapham’s current research is also focused on evaluating the adverse health risks associated with cannabis use among primary care patients, including use among pregnant individuals, as well as testing the effectiveness of integrated behavioral health care, including routine substance use and suicide risk screening, for teens in primary care.
RESEARCH INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCE
-
Behavior Change
-
Addictions & Unhealthy Substance Use
-
Health Services & Economics
Implementation research; quality measurement
-
Implementation Research
Screening and brief intervention; mental health quality measurement
-
Child & Adolescent Health
-
Addictions
Prevention and treatment
Sparc trial tools
Resources for behavioral health integration
The SPARC trial successfully implemented behavioral health care into primary care. On our website, you can access tools for behavioral health integration, as well as frequently asked questions and publications.
Recent publications
Young-Wolff KC, Chi FW, Campbell CI, Does MB, Brown QL, Alexeeff SE, Ansley D, Wang X, Lapham GT Association of psychiatric and substance use disorders with cannabis use and cannabis use disorder during early pregnancy in northern California 2024 Nov;119(11):1987-1997. doi: 10.1111/add.16622. Epub 2024-07-31. PubMed
Young-Wolff KC, Chi FW, Lapham GT, Alexeeff SE, Does MB, Ansley D, Campbell CI Changes in Prenatal Cannabis Use Among Pregnant Individuals From 2012 to 2022 2024 Oct;144(4):e101-e104. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005711. Epub 2024-08-30. PubMed
Hamilton LK, Bradley KA, Matson TE, Lapham GT Discriminative validity of a substance use symptom checklist for moderate-severe DSM-5 cannabis use disorder (CUD) in primary care settings 2024 Sep;12:100260. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2024.100260. Epub 2024-07-15. PubMed
Yarborough BJH, Stumbo SP, Schneider JL, Ahmedani BK, Daida YG, Hooker SA, Lapham GT, Negriff S, Rossom RC Patient perspectives on mental health and pain management support needed versus received during opioid deprescribing 2024 Jul;25(7):104485. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2024.01.350. Epub 2024-02-02. PubMed
Yarborough BJH, Stumbo SP, Schneider JL, Ahmedani BK, Daida YG, Hooker SA, Negriff S, Rossom RC, Lapham G Impact of Opioid Dose Reductions on Patient-Reported Mental Health and Suicide-Related Behavior and Relationship to Patient Choice in Tapering Decisions 2024 Apr;25(4):1094-1105. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.11.002. Epub 2023-11-10. PubMed
Ford MA, Lapham GT, Matson TE, Luce C, Oliver MM, Binswanger IA Comparing Cannabis Use for Pain to Use for Other Reasons in Primary Care Patients 2024 Jan 5;36(6):996-1007. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2023.230163R1. Epub 2023-10-31. PubMed
Wartko PD, Bobb JF, Boudreau DM, Matthews AG, McCormack J, Lee AK, Qiu H, Yu O, Hyun N, Idu AE, Campbell CI, Saxon AJ, Liu DS, Altschuler A, Samet JH, Labelle CT, Zare-Mehrjerdi M, Stotts AL, Braciszewski JM, Murphy MT, Dryden D, Arnsten JH, Cunningham CO, Horigian VE, Szapocznik J, Glass JE, Caldeiro RM, Phillips RC, Shea M, Bart G, Schwartz RP, McNeely J, Liebschutz JM, Tsui JI, Merrill JO, Lapham GT, Addis M, Bradley KA, PROUD Trial Collaborators, Ghiroli MM, Hamilton LK, Hu Y, LaHue JS, Loree AM, Murphy SM, Northrup TF, Shmueli-Blumberg D, Silva AJ, Weinstein ZM, Wong MT, Burganowski RP Nurse Care Management for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: The PROUD Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial 2023 Dec;183(12):1343-1354. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.5701. Epub 2023-10-30. PubMed
Matson TE, Williams EC, Lapham GT, Oliver M, Hallgren KA, Bradley KA Association between cannabis use disorder symptom severity and probability of clinically-documented diagnosis and treatment in a primary care sample 2023 Oct;251:110946. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.110946. Epub 2023-08-23. PubMed
Lapham GT, Matson TE, Bobb JF, Luce C, Oliver MM, Hamilton LK, Bradley KA Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder and Reasons for Use Among Adults in a US State Where Recreational Cannabis Use Is Legal 2023 Aug;6(8):e2328934. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.28934. Epub 2023-08-01. PubMed
McClure EA, Hamilton L, Schauer GL, Matson TE, Lapham GT Cannabis and nicotine co-use among primary care patients in a state with legal cannabis access 2023 May;140:107621. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107621. Epub 2023-01-20. PubMed
Research
A single question helps identify patients at higher risk of cannabis use disorder
1 in 5 people who use cannabis daily at risk for moderate to severe use disorder.
Research
A better approach to prevent teen suicide deaths
New grant funds crucial work to test effectiveness of teen suicide prevention in primary care.
News
Training scientists to transform health care
Five years and 8 scholars later, KPWHRI celebrates the impact of the CATALyST training program on early-career scientists.
Research
Increasing opioid use disorder treatment in primary care
A trial led by KPWHRI researchers found that adding nurse care managers helped more people get needed treatment.
Research
Is medical use of cannabis as risky as nonmedical use?
New findings indicate medical cannabis use is associated with a lower risk of moderate to severe cannabis use disorder.
KPWHRI In the media
Improving opioid use disorder treatment with nurse care management
Nurses, access to medication expand treatment for opioid use disorder
Medscape, Dec. 19, 2024
Land Acknowledgment
Our Seattle offices sit on the occupied land of the Duwamish and by the shared waters of the Coast Salish people, who have been here thousands of years and remain. Learn about practicing land acknowledgment.