Pairing Matches

Basic Information

Name: Kathleen Thomas
Title: Associate Professor
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Discipline: Public Health
Years of experience: 31

Research

Primary methodological research approach:

Attitudes
Health literacy
Minorities / disadvantaged population
Patient-centeredness
Patient–provider relationship

Focus of research in communication and healthcare:

Co-design
Delphi and consensus finding methods
Implementation research
Microanalysis of face-to-face dialogue
Mixed methods
Observational studies
Participatory learning and action
Qualitative methods
(Quasi-)experiential designs
RCT
Sequence analysis
Systematic literature review

Description

Three keywords describing expertise and interest:

mental health
disability

Description of field of expertise, major interests, and consultation topics:

I am a behavioral economist and mental health services researcher with 3 areas of expertise: 1) disparities in access to care, 2) patient self-efficacy interventions, and 3) health insurance policy. All three areas inform pharmaceutical outcomes and policy, require patient-engaged work with multidisciplinary research teams and creative data compilation to accomplish scientific breakthroughs. The combined learning in these three areas is synergistic, with the goal to improve access and quality of mental health services. My research in disparities in access includes variation in use of psychotropic medication and polypharmacy by nonclinical factors. In this work, I use novel data linkages to elucidate strategies that address racial and other disparities in access to mental health care. My work takes into account patient preferences, motivation and behavior, shared decision-making with clinicians, and mental health workforce shortage. I currently lead a PCORI project seeking to build self-efficacy in parents of youth with IDD. This study is a randomized controlled trial that will integrate qualitative and quantitative data from primary data collection and medical records to assess the comparative effectiveness of two parent interventions.

Brief biography: