MIRECC / CoE

Highlights from Our Anchor Sites

Our affiliates in Houston, Little Rock, New Orleans, and VISN 17 work hard to promote mental health education, research, and treatment locally and nationally. Here are some highlights of their accomplishments over the past three months.

Houston

SC MIRECC Directors Visit Little Rock and New Orleans Sites

Drs. Mark Kunik and Jan Lindsay visited Little Rock and New Orleans for meetings with partners, affiliates and staff. Visits included colleagues from the VISN 16 Network, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, the Center for Mental Health and Outcomes Research, Behavioral Health QUERI, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System, and SC MIRECC administrative staff.

Little Rock

Dr. Sara Landes Presents at Health Equity Action Network Investigator Skills Development Webinar Series

Dr. Landes presented on hybrid effectiveness-implementation approaches at the Health Equity Action Network Investigator Skills Development (HEAN ISD) webinar series. Hybrid effectiveness-implementation studies promote examination of both effectiveness and implementation outcomes within a single study. This presentation focused on the three types of hybrid approaches and how they vary based on their primary focus and the amount of emphasis on effectiveness versus implementation outcomes. To view the webinar, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKwDufyLQUU.

Dr. Angie Waliski Receives Innovation in Acute Care Suicide Prevention Award from AFSP and ACEP

Congratulations to Dr. Waliski and her team members Drs. Michael P. Wilson and Ronald G. Thompson of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for receiving the 2022 Innovation in Acute Care Suicide Prevention Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). They were recognized for their project on peer specialist-facilitated safety planning in the emergency department. Visit https://afsp.org/story/national-suicide-prevention-award-honors-leaders-of-first-known-trial-showing-tha to learn more.

Affiliates Attend and Present at ISTSS Annual Meeting

Drs. Marcela (Marci) Weber, Brandon Griffin, Kent Hinkson, and Jeff Pyne attended the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies annual meeting. Drs. Weber, Griffin, and Pyne presented on “The longitudinal impact of fluctuations in coping self-efficacy on resilient psychosocial functioning of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 epidemic.” The entire group also had meetings for their Trauma-related Resilience and Community Collaboration (TRECC) lab.

New Orleans

Affiliates Highlight Recent Publications, Presentations and Honors

The New Orleans site has several publications, presentations and honors among their affiliates to highlight this issue:

Publications:

1. Shapiro, M. O., Short, N. A., Raines, A. M., Franklin, C. L., & Constans, J. I. (2022). Pain and posttraumatic stress: Associations among women Veterans with a history of military sexual trauma. Psychological trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
2. Raines, A. M., Chambliss, J. L., Norr, A. M., Sanders, N., Smith, S., Walton, J. L., True, G., Franklin, C. L., & Schmidt, N. B. (in press). Acceptability, feasibility, and utility of a safety aid reduction treatment in underserved Veterans: A pilot investigation. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
3. Ennis, C. R., Raines, A. M., Aldea, M. A., Shapiro, M. O., Crowe, C. M., & Franklin, C. L. (in press). Addressing barriers in access to mental health care within the Veterans Health Administration: Evidence-based psychotherapies for anxiety and related disorders. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.
4. Clauss, K., Houtsma, C., Shapiro, M. O., McDermott, M. J., Macia, K. S., Franklin, C. L., & Raines, A. M. (in press). Anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty among Veterans with subthreshold versus threshold PTSD. Traumatology.
5. Betz, M. E., Stanley, I. H., Anestis, M.D., Bryan, C. J., Buck-Atkinson, J., Carey, N., Ghahramanlou-Holloway, M., Heintz-Morrisey, B., Holloway, K., Houtsma, C., Kennedy, R., Paine, C. M., Ramchand, R., Simonetti, J., Walsh, A., & Wright-Kelly, E. (in press). Firearm suicide prevention in the U.S. military: Recommendations from a national summit. Military Medicine.
6. Raines, A. M., Houtsma, C., Boffa, J. W., & Constans, J. I. (in press). A response to Operation Deep Dive’s interim report on Veteran suicide rates. Military Medicine.

Presentations:

1. Shapiro, M.O., Kroll-Desrosiers, A.R., & Mattocks, K.M. (2022, November). Understanding the impact of previous pregnancy loss among currently pregnant Veterans. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (New York, New York).
2. Houtsma, C., Powers, J., Raines, A. M., Bailey, M., Constans, J. I., & True, G. (2022, November). Adaptation and evaluation of a lethal means safety suicide prevention module for concealed carry courses. Poster presented at the National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention, Washington, D.C.
3. Constans, J.I., Houtsma, C., Raines, A., Bailey, M., & True, G., (2022). Development of a Veteran led out-of-home firearm storage network: The Armory Project. Flash science presentation and poster presented at the National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention, Washington, DC.
4. Raines, A. M. (2022, November). A safety aid reduction treatment for anxiety and related disorders. Mini workshop presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
5. Houtsma, C., Tock, J., & Raines, A. M. (2022, November). When safe firearm storage isn’t enough: Comparing risk profiles among firearm suicide decedents. In A. Karnick (Chair), Firearm injury, prevention, and suicidal behavior: Developing insights using public health data. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
6. Raines, A. M., Tock, J., Houtsma, C., Macia, K., Herwehe, J., & Constans, J. (2022, November). Comparing the interrelations of risk factors by method of suicide among Veterans: A network analysis approach. In A. Karnick (Chair), Firearm injury, prevention, and suicidal behavior: Developing insights using public health data. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.
7. Raines, A. M., Clauss, K., Ennis, C., & Franklin, L. (2022, November). Leveraging telehealth to deliver a group-based transdiagnostic treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. In A. Knapp & N. P. Allan (Chairs), Exploring distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic across the developmental spectrum. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, New York, NY.

Honors/Appointments:

Dr. Claire Houtsma received the 2022 South Central MIRECC New Collaborator Award and was appointed as the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System Research and Development (R&D) Committee Chair.

Dr. Gala True presented her community-partnered work promoting secure firearm storage to prevent suicide at the American Public Health Association meeting and the National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention. One of her posters titled “Community-engagement and coalition-building to promote lethal means safety and prevent Veteran firearm suicide” won an award in the Impact Science Award category at the National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention.

Last updated: January 23, 2023