Publications by authors named "Erika Gaitan"
Background: Residents living in US-Mexico border communities have some of the worst health outcomes nationally. This randomized trial evaluated whether patients receiving enhanced integrated behavioral health (IBH) care at a southern Texas free and charitable were more likely to improve health outcomes after 12 months compared to patients receiving standard care.
Theory & Methods: The IBH intervention featured brief intervention by a behavioral health specialist and enhanced coordinated care.
Background: Persons with severe, persistent mental illness (SPMI) are at high risk for poor health and premature mortality. Integrating primary care in a mental health center may improve health outcomes in a population with SPMI in a socioeconomically distressed region of the USA.
Objective: To examine the effects of reverse colocated integrated care on persons with SPMI and co-morbid chronic disease receiving behavioral health services at a local mental health authority located at the US-Mexico border.
Objective: Addressing alcohol and other drug disorders and other mental disorders among adult Hispanics/Latinos is of critical concern, as they are one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups with a disproportionate rate of disease, mental disorders, and poverty. Although improvement in outcomes is associated with sustained participation in ongoing treatment for co-occurring alcohol and other drug disorders/mental disorders, continuing care is rare for these chronic conditions, especially for Latinos with more limited access to culturally and linguistically competent services.
Methods: The evidence-based smartphone recovery application Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (A-CHESS) was translated and adapted for Spanish-speaking Latinos with alcohol and other drug disorders/mental disorders, thus developing CASA-CHESS to address a high level of need for services, high rates of relapse, and lack of existing culturally competent services for Latinos.