Shannon Dorsey, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Washington

Implementation of Effective Mental Health Treatments: Local and Global

Although a large number of evidence-based treatments for mental health problems have been developed, they are not consistently available to those with need. Locally, in Washington State and in the United States more broadly, existing mental health care often is not evidence-based. Globally, in low and middle income countries, mental health care is rarely available, in part due to a shortage of mental health professionals and very limited funding for mental health. Implementation science, commonly defined as the study of methods and strategies to promote the use of effective treatments in routine practice, aims to improve population health by bridging the research to practice gap. I present findings from our local implementation science work in Washington State, testing clinical supervision as a method for increasing mental health provider use of evidence-based treatments. I also present findings from our global implementation science work in Kenya, Tanzania, and other low and middle income countries. Globally, we have focused on task-sharing as a method in which community members with little to no formal education or experience in mental health are trained to deliver mental health interventions. New directions for both our local and global implementation science work also are discussed.

Dr. Dorsey's talk is part of her promotion review in the Department of Psychology.