1. Home
  2. Clinical Practice Improvement
  3. Research Advisory Committee
  4. Agency's Research Agenda

Agency's Research Agenda

THE AUTHORITY'S RESEARCH AGENDA

The RAC was tasked to identify research areas of highest priority to the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority system. An iterative series of discussions was held, beginning with the RAC consideration of the SWOT analysis conducted by WSU Project CARE, proceeding on to presentations by Agency and community representatives, followed by detailed deliberations in an ad hoc subcommittee and concluding with final approval by the full RAC. While the diversity of RAC members enabled broad consideration, Agency input was sought specifically to ensure that RAC recommendations addressed the content and spirit of the Agency's Application for Renewal and Recommitment (ARR). Mary Allix of the Quality Division was engaged to discuss the ARR imperatives and related Authority initiatives. There was general consensus that priority content areas being considered by the RAC were consistent with the ARR targets. Mary Allix asked the committee to decide if the Authority should focus its research priorities on areas of current strength or those in need of greater development. Committee members generally agreed that the RAC should not rank order the priorities now to allow flexibility for changing conditions and opportunities.

The ad hoc subcommittee met several times and winnowed the long list of recommended priorities. Ultimately, a quantitative rating process was used to determine how important each of the specific content areas was for committee members. They rated each item on the final list of key areas using two separate scales - one for perceived clinical importance and the second for financial importance. Clinical importance was understood primarily in terms of benefit to consumers. Financial importance was the value attributable to both efficiency of service delivery and ability to attract funding for programming and research. The data were aggregated and mean values were calculated on each scale.

As a result of this objective rating process and subsequent discussions among RAC members, the following research areas were identified as the top current priorities for research in Detroit-Wayne County. The list is now referred to as the DWC Research Agenda.

  • Integration of care for co-occurring problems (mental health, physical health and substance use)
  • Treatment outcomes for consumers
  • Evidence-based practices
  • Program effectiveness
  • Innovative treatment and service delivery models
  • Recovery-oriented systems of care
  • Multiple system models of care (e.g., mental health and criminal justice)
  • Provider training effectiveness

To promote the most relevant and useful research on these and future priorities, the RAC urges the Authority to ensure that a comprehensive, valid and reliable database of mental health services delivered in Wayne County is available and accessible for investigators.

By making these priorities known, it is anticipated that:

  • Researchers will use the priorities to demonstrate to funders the community relevance of their research proposals;
  • Future research projects will be aligned with local needs to ensure the translation of knowledge to community-based settings and;
  • Research efforts will be coordinated to reduce the burden on consumers and providers and maximize scarce resources.