As the nation grapples with the ongoing opioid crisis, the public health community had been working to expand access to much-needed treatment.

But when opioid abuse coincides with mental illness -- as it often does -- less is known about the effect the dual diagnosis has on outcomes and what specialized treatment it might require.

Dr. Jie Chen, an associate professor of health services administration at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, has received a $1.3 million grant from the National Institute of Aging for a study titled, “Effect of Hospital and Community Care Coordination on Health Care Access, Quality and Equity among Individuals with Risk Factors or Diagnosis of ADRD.” 

The Spring 2018 SPH faculty and staff assembly included plenty of great news about school and department-level accomplishments, and laughter and good cheer during the faculty and staff awards.

Dean Boris Lushniak spoke warmly about this being the culmination of the SPH ten-year anniversary celebration, highlighting the various celebrations that happened over the course of the academic year. He noted that the SPH commencement ceremony, happening this Saturday, May 19th, will mark the end of our anniversary year and the start of our second decade. 

The Gamma Zeta chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health is pleased to announce its 2018 inductees. At the induction ceremony and awards reception on May 14, 2018, Dean Boris Lushniak and Principal Associate Dean Dushanka Kleinman inducted 16 students, seven faculty members, five alumni and one honorary member, Mr. Mark Luckner. The ceremony also recognized student research poster winners from each department of the school.

New research published in the journal Medical Care by Associate Professor Jie Chen (Health Services Administration) looks at the roles of local health departments in promoting mental health in reducing 30-day re-admission rates in Maryland. Thirty-day re-admission rates are  a statistic considered as a quality measure under Medicare’s Readmissions Reduction Program. When hospitals exceed their targeted re-admission rate, they receive a financial penalty from Medicare.

More than half of preventable hospitalizations in Maryland are for people with co-existing mental health and chronic physical conditions. A new study by School of Public Health researchers suggests that low-cost mental health programs provided by local health departments can play a critical role in preventing these costly and unnecessary hospitalizations.

The Maryland Health Care Commission released findings today from a year-long assessment of the unique challenges facing the health system serving five counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The report, titled “Health Matters: Navigating an Enhanced Rural Health Model for Maryland,” examined rural health care challenges in Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot Counties.

Dr. Jie Chen, an associate professor in the School of Public Health’s Department of Health Services Administration, has received a $2.25 million National Institutes of Health RO1 grant to examine system-level care coordination and estimate how it impacts African American and Latino patients with mental illness.

The project, called "Effects of Hospital-Community-Public Health Integration on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health," will run between July 2017 and February 2022. 

On April 6, 2016, the University of Maryland’s Graduate School Government hosted Graduate Research Appreciation Day (GRAD). The event gave Master's and doctoral student investigators from all academic backgrounds an opportunity to share research, obtain feedback from faculty and peers, and hone conference presentation skills in a welcoming, on-campus setting.