Students on lawn

Outcomes and Evaluations Core

Carolyn Dewa, M.P.H., Ph.D. joined faculty for the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry in Fall 2015 and is the Director for the Outcomes and Evaluations Core of the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence at UC Davis.

Professor Dewa is leading a pilot study in collaboration with the Student Health and Counseling Services at UC Davis and the UC Davis Medical School Office of Student Wellness, the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the University of Calgary for faculty and staff training to recognize and appropriately support campus and medical school students with mental health problems. The study is funded by the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence.  

The BHCOE Webinar Series, launched fall 2016, was created with input from the community with the goal of educating and disseminating information to communities across California and the US. The series opened with “An Overview of Early Intervention for Psychosis Programs: What You Need to Consider about Models, Implementation, and Evidence-Based Practices” followed by three webinars, each of which took a deeper focus on guidelines and best practices, implementation in California and best practices in psychother­apeutic use for young adults experiencing their first episode of psychosis. The webinars drew on expertise from national and international experts in the field.

The fall 2016 webinar series, directed by professor Carolyn Dewa, reached 315 people, with 66% of registrants from 41 out of 58 counties in California and 33% from 21 other states across the United States. Across all four webinars, 96% of those who attended said that they found the webinars informative and useful. Representation spanned industry with 31% from nonprofit and community mental health, 20% from county mental health, 16% from academia, 13% from government, 11% from health care, and 3% family members or people with lived experience.

One of the foci for the Behavioral Health Centers of Excellence at UC Davis and UCLA is reducing disparities. The purpose of the spring 2017 Webinar Series was to highlight underserved and vulnerable populations and offer participants current knowledge about effective services and treatment for these populations. The aim of the series was to facilitate discussion that inspires positive change. The four-part series began with the Deputy Director of the Office of Health Equity’s overview of the definition of health equity and the State of California’s plan to promote health and mental health equity for all Californians. It was followed by webinars presented by experts who discussed evidence-based services and treatments for specific underserved communities. Specifically, the webinar series looked at “Approaches to Culturally Informed Evidence-Based Mental Health Treatments for Asian Americans,” “Making the Invisible Visible: Addressing the Mental Health Needs of those with Developmental Disabilities,” and “Promoting Mental Health of LGBTQ Youth: Evidence-Based Practices and Promising Strategies.”

The spring 2017 Webinar Series reached 241 people, with 89% of registrants from 30 out of 58 counties in California and 10% from 12 other states across the United States. Across all four webinars, 87% of those who attended said that they found the webinars informative and useful. Representation spanned industry with 25% from nonprofit and community mental health, 10% from county mental health, 23% from academia, 15% from government, 17% from health care, and 3% family members or people with lived experience.