2009 — The Trajectory Toward National Rollout of Improved Depression Care: Building Villages, Not Empires

Author List:
Chaney E
Rubenstein L
Garcia-Maldonado M
Kirchner J
Yano E
Liu C

Workshop Objectives:
1. Understand the phases of implementation of improved depression care. 2. Understand the structure and function of a research-clinical partnership formed for the purpose of improving VA depression care as part of the TIDES project (Translating Initiatives in Depression into Effective Solutions) 3. Place the concepts discussed in relationship to TIDES within the broader context of QUERI implementation research.

Activities:
Methods for improving depression care are well-established through prior research, including numerous randomized trials and cost-effectiveness analyses. Yet improved depression care remains the exception, not the rule, in VA and elsewhere. Depression care improvement methods thus exemplify an innovation that has not diffused well in the absence of an ongoing research-clinical partnership. The TIDES project began establishing such a partnership with three participating VISNs three years ago (10, 16, and 23); a fourth VISN has now joined the effort (22). This workshop explores the process of developing such a partnership; evaluating its results; and building toward national VA implementation of evidence-based methods for improving depression care. 1) Introduction: The goals and objectives of TIDES 2) Establishing the research-clinical partnership: developmental steps and roles 3) Formative evaluation: components, methods, and results 4) Building toward national implementation: tools, organization, and roles 5) TIDES in the context of QUERI: how does depression care improvement relate to other QUERI conditions and to the QUERI infrastructure

Target Audience:
Researchers, clinicians, and managers interested in implementing evidence-based quality improvement for chronic illnesses.

Assumed Audience Familiarity with Topic:
Basic knowledge of concepts of evidence-based practice.