Tedd McDonald, senior researcher for the Center for Health Policy (CHP) and professor and director of the Master of Health Science program, and his research team are keeping busy with publications and presentations about their research contracts.
McDonald, Amy Curtis-Schaeffer, a former Psychology undergraduate research assistant, Alex Theiler, Master of Health Science graduate and former CHP graduate research assistant, and Elsa Howard, Master of Health Science student and senior data analyst at Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, have an article, “Providers’ Perceptions of Prevalent Mental Health Problems: Differences and Similarities Across Urban, Rural, and Frontier Regions” in the April 2014 edition of the Journal of Rural Mental Health.
Sandina Begic, researcher and project manager for the CHP, McDonald, Kamilla Gazieva and Stephanie Lindsay, graduate research assistants with the CHP, issued a technical report, titled “Year Six Assessment of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections’ Clinical Services Program.” With the completion of this technical report, Begic, McDonald, Gazieva and Lindsay also presented the results to three groups: the Idaho Association of Counties Juvenile Justice, the Idaho Juvenile Justice Commission, and a group of juvenile detention center clinicians, administrators and probation officers. Additionally, the “Fifth Year Evaluation of the Clinical Services Program” was presented to the Idaho Criminal Justice Commission before the close of 2013 by McDonald, Begic and Lindsay and in 2013 to the Idaho Juvenile Justice Commission by McDonald, Begic and Howard.
The assessment of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections’ clinical services involves examining the effectiveness of physicians working with the juvenile corrections system. If the physicians can identify substance abuse problems or mental health problems, then the juveniles can undergo a Juvenile Corrections-supported treatment program. Often the children had been previously diagnosed, but had missed some or all treatment. McDonald’s evaluations and reports identified areas for improvement and helped realize the importance of the treatment program, eventually affecting state policy when the state created a permanent budget line to support the program.
Lindsay, Gazieva, McDonald, Lisa MacKenzie, research associate and project and grant coordinator for the CHP, Logan Kinney, undergraduate research assistant for the CHP, and Brayden Healey, research assistant for the CHP, released a technical report, titled “An Assessment of Parishioners’ Perspectives: Results of the St. Michael’s Parish Survey.” McDonald offered professional services to conduct a comprehensive survey of parishioners’ perception of a number of issues related to St. Michael’s Cathedral parish in Boise, Idaho. The survey consisted of both closed and open-ended items grouped into six content areas, including 1) Demographics and Times of Service; 2) Initial Perceptions; 3) Program/Ministry; 4) Stewardship/Financial; and 5) Overall Perceptions. The CHP staff performed quantitative and qualitative analysis, including an extensive content analysis and reported the findings to St. Michael’s.
McDonald and Lindsay were invited to speak on April 17 on “Early Intervention Programs for Addressing Trauma Experiences in High-Risk Families” during the Third Annual Family Studies Spring Conference at Boise State University.