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
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Behavior Change
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Addictions & Unhealthy Substance Use
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Health Services & Economics
Implementation research; quality measurement
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Implementation Research
Screening and brief intervention; mental health quality measurement
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Child & Adolescent Health
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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
Carrell DS, Cronkite DJ, Shea M, Oliver M, Luce C, Matson TE, Bobb JF, Hsu C, Binswanger IA, Browne KC, Saxon AJ, McCormack J, Jelstrom E, Ghitza UE, Campbell CI, Bradley KA, Lapham GT Clinical documentation of patient-reported medical cannabis use in primary care: Toward scalable extraction using natural language processing methods 2022 Jan;43(1):917-924. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2021.1986767. PubMed
Matson TE, Bradley KA, Lapham GT Self-reported Practices of Frontline Cannabis Dispensary Workers and the Implications for Clinicians 2021 Sep;4(9):e2125262. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.25262. Epub 2021-09-01. PubMed
Matson TE, Carrell DS, Bobb JF, Cronkite DJ, Oliver MM, Luce C, Ghitza UE, Hsu CW, Campbell CI, Browne KC, Binswanger IA, Saxon AJ, Bradley KA, Lapham GT Prevalence of Medical Cannabis Use and Associated Health Conditions Documented in Electronic Health Records Among Primary Care Patients in Washington State 2021 May 3;4(5):e219375. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.9375. Epub 2021-05-03. PubMed
Tsui JI, Akosile MA, Lapham GT, Boudreau DM, Johnson EA, Bobb JF, Binswanger IA, Yarborough BJH, Glass JE, Rossom RC, Murphy MT, Cunningham CO, Arnsten JH, Thakral M, Saxon AJ, Merrill JO, Samet JH, Bart GB, Campbell CI, Loree AM, Silva A, Stotts AL, Ahmedani B, Braciszewski JM, Hechter RC, Northrup TF, Horigian VE, Bradley KA Prevalence and Medication Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder Among Primary Care Patients with Hepatitis C and HIV 2021 Apr;36(4):930-937. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06389-7. Epub 2021-02-10. PubMed
Campbell CI, Saxon AJ, Boudreau DM, Wartko PD, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Matthews AG, McCormack J, Liu DS, Addis M, Altschuler A, Samet JH, LaBelle CT, Arnsten J, Caldeiro RM, Borst DT, Stotts AL, Braciszewski JM, Szapocznik J, Bart G, Schwartz RP, McNeely J, Liebschutz JM, Tsui JI, Merrill JO, Glass JE, Lapham GT, Murphy SM, Weinstein ZM, Yarborough BJH, Bradley KA PRimary Care Opioid Use Disorders treatment (PROUD) trial protocol: a pragmatic, cluster-randomized implementation trial in primary care for opioid use disorder treatment 2021 Jan 31;16(1):9. doi: 10.1186/s13722-021-00218-w. Epub 2021-01-31. PubMed
Williams EC, McGinnis KA, Rubinsky AD, Matson TE, Bobb JF, Lapham GT, Edelman EJ, Satre DD, Catz SL, Richards JE, Bryant KJ, Marshall BDL, Kraemer KL, Crystal S, Gordon AJ, Skanderson M, Fiellin DA, Justice AC, Bradley KA Alcohol Use and Antiretroviral Adherence Among Patients Living with HIV: Is Change in Alcohol Use Associated with Change in Adherence? 2021 Jan;25(1):203-214. doi: 10.1007/s10461-020-02950-x. PubMed
McClure JB, Lapham G Tobacco quitline engagement and outcomes among primary care patients reporting use of tobacco or dual tobacco and cannabis: An observational study 2020 Dec 3;42(4):417-422. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2020.1846665. Epub 2020-12-03. PubMed
Yeung K, Richards J, Goemer E, Lozano P, Lapham G, Williams E, Glass J, Lee A, Achtmeyer C, Caldeiro R, Parrish R, Bradley K Costs of using evidence-based implementation strategies for behavioral health integration in a large primary care system 2020 Dec;55(6):913-923. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13592. PubMed
Matson TE, Lapham GT, Bobb JF, Johnson E, Richards JE, Lee AK, Bradley KA, Glass JE Cannabis use, other drug use, and risk of subsequent acute care in primary care patients 2020 Nov;216:108227. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108227. Epub 2020-08-08. PubMed
Bradley KA, Lapham GT, Lee AK Screening for Drug Use in Primary Care: Practical Implications of the New USPSTF Recommendation 2020 Aug;180(8):1050-1051. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.7335. 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
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