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Center for Health Policy Continues to Grow

The research team at the Center for Health Policy (CHP) has had an eventful summer and start to the fall of 2014, with nine new projects and grant renewals worth approximately $700,000 since July 1.

In addition, Maureen Brewer, Lucas Donaldson, and Jessica Marshall have joined the CHP team.  Brewer and Donaldson will manage the Millennium Fund project, which evaluates substance use prevention activities for juvenile-status offenders throughout Idaho. Brewer has joined the staff at CHP and brings six years of evaluation experience from her work at the Idaho State Legislature Office of Performance Evaluation. Donaldson is a graduate research assistant working towards his Master of Health Science degree , Marshall is an undergraduate research assistant and will be primarily assisting with the Idaho Health Districts’ Tobacco Cessation evaluation project.

Some of CHP’s recent new or renewed grants and contracts include:

  • “Evaluation of Restorative and Preventative Programs Funded through the Millennium Fund” sponsored by Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections. Tedd McDonald, associate director of CHP, is the principal investigator.
  • “Idaho Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visitation Program Evaluation Year 4” sponsored by Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. McDonald and Sandina Begic, researcher and project manager for CHP, are the principal investigators.
  • “Statewide Evaluation of the Impact of Clinical Screening in County Detention Centers Year 7” sponsored by Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections. McDonald is the principal investigator.
  • “Tobacco Cessation Grant Fiscal Year 2015” sponsored by Idaho Public Health Departments. Janet Reis, senior researcher for CHP, is the principal investigator.
  • “Indiana Critical Access Hospital Community Apgar Program” sponsored by  The Indiana State Department of Health – Office of Primary Care and Rural Health. Edward Baker, director of CHP, and David Schmitz, affiliate faculty from Family Medicine Residency of Idaho and senior researcher for CHP, are the principal investigators.
  • “Maternal and Child Health Program Needs Assessment” sponsored by Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. McDonald and Mark Siemon, researcher for CHP, are the principal investigators.
  • “Statewide Evaluation of Substance Use Prevention Programs Funded through the Idaho Strategic Prevention Framework – State Incentive Grant Year 2” sponsored by Idaho Office of Drug Policy. McDonald is the principal investigator.

In addition to beginning work on new contracts and grants, the CHP team has published several externally funded technical reports and given numerous conference presentations. Below is a summary of these activities.

Selected Externally Funded Technical Reports

  • Healey, B. J., Gazieva, K., & McDonald, T. W. (2014). An assessment for Disproportionate Minority Contact among juveniles in Canyon and Twin Falls Counties 2009-2011: A series of summary reports for the City of Caldwell Police Department, City of Nampa Police Department, Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, and City of Twin Falls Police Department. Boise, ID: Center for Health Policy, Boise State University.
  • Healey, B. J., McDonald, T. W., Gazieva, K., Begic, S., & Toussaint, L. L. (2014). An assessment for Disproportionate Minority Contact among juveniles in Idaho 2009-2011. Boise, ID: Center for Health Policy, Boise State University.
  • Reis, J., MacKenzie, L., & Kinney, L. (2014). Public Health District Millennium Tobacco Cessation Program Fiscal Year 2014 Evaluation Report. Idaho Public Health Districts.
  • Begic, S., McDonald, T. W., Gazieva, K., & Lindsay, S. J. (2014). Year six assessment of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections’ Clinical Services program. Boise, ID: Center for Health Policy, Boise State University.
  • Reis, J., Baker, E., Smith, J., Soelberg, T., & MacKenzie, L. (2014). Assessment of the Usability and Impact of the Idaho Health Data Exchange (IHDE) Part Two.  Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Idaho Health Data Exchange.

Selected Reviewed Conference Presentations

  • Baker, E., Schmitz, D. & MacKenzie, L. (2014). Using the Community Health Center Community Apgar Program to bolster physician workforce in underserved communities. National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Annual Conference, the Community Health Institute. San Diego, CA.
  • Prengaman, M., Baker, E. & Schmitz, D. (2014).  The nursing community Apgar program phase IV.  2014 International Rural Health & Rural Nursing Research Conference.  Bozeman, Montana.
  • Reed, A., Schmitz, D., Girvan, J. & Baker, E. (2014).  Assessment of factors for recruiting and retaining medical students to rural communities.  Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) 47th Annual Spring Conference, San Antonio, Texas.
  • Baker, E., Schmitz, D. & MacKenzie, L. (2014). Idaho rural physician scope of practice longitudinal study.  National Rural Health Association 37th Annual Rural Health Conference, Las Vegas Nevada.

Selected National, Regional and Local Presentations:

  • Schmitz, D. & Baker, E. (2014). Idaho rural physician workforce: A five year perspective.  Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, McCall, Idaho.
  • Baker, E. (2014). Idaho rural physician workforce: A five year perspective. Healthcare Financial Management Association – Idaho Chapter, McCall, Idaho.
  • McDonald, T. W., Lindsay, S. J, & MacKenzie, L. A. (2014). The value of evaluation in prevention programming. Workshop presented at the 30th Annual Idaho Conference on Alcohol and Drug Dependency in Boise, Idaho.
  • McDonald, T. W., & Lindsay, S. L. (2014). Early intervention programs for addressing trauma experiences in high-risk families. Third Annual Family Studies Spring Conference, Boise, Idaho.
  • McDonald, T. W., Donaldson, L. P., & Brewer, M. E. (2014). Millennium Fund grantees workshop. Presentation given at the annual meeting of the Idaho Juvenile Justice Association in Moscow, ID.
  • McDonald, T. W., Healey, B. J., Gazieva, K., Begic, S., & Toussaint, L. L. (2014). An assessment for Disproportionate Minority Contact among juveniles in Idaho 2009-2011. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Idaho Juvenile Justice Association in Moscow, Idaho.