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Implementation Science at UW

Keywords: Katherine Anne Comtois

Tailored strategies to increase the use of an evidence-based psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: A stepped-wedge randomized trial in military clinics

Authors:

Craig S Rosen, Alan L Peterson, David S Riggs, Christopher K Haddock, Chunki Fong, Stacey Young-McCaughan, Jeffrey Cook, Katherine Anne Comtois, Elisa V Borah, C Adrian Davis, Katherine A Dondanville, Erin P Finley, Sara A Jahnke, Melissa Mistretta, Andrea Neitzer, Shannon Wiltsey-Stirman, Erin R Frick, Olivia Hayes, Spencer Clayton, Allison M Conforte, Araceli Flores, Jeremy Jinkerson , Zachary K Jones, Hana J Kim, Margaret Letendre, Jared S Link, Debra Nofziger, Erik N Ringdahl, John W Waggoner, Craig Woodworth, Emily Ho, Carmen P McLean & TACTICS Research Group

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

Subscription Required for Full Text Access

Published: October 2025

Read the full text in the subscription access journal Journal of Anxiety Disorders

✪ Partnering with Policymakers to Design Suicide Care Research: Maximizing Impact in Adolescent Mental Health Policy

Authors:

Katherine Anne Comtois, Juliann Salisbury, Richelle L. Clifton, Julie Goldstein Grumet & Molly Adrian

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: May 2025

Read the full text in the open access journal Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Abstract:

Outpatient medical settings are a critical source of mental health care for adolescents and young adults. This is due to the familiarity and accessibility of those settings and challenges accessing mental health care elsewhere. Adolescents and young adults who die by suicide are more likely to have seen a medical provider in the prior month than a mental health specialist, but few suicide care interventions have been developed to specifically address the challenges of working in these outpatient medical settings. This paper provides the perspective of the University of Washington Suicide Care Research Center on the importance of incorporating evidence into public policy decisions regarding workforce development and standards of care for adolescents and young adults experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors, their families, and their outpatient medical setting providers; and the equal importance of integrating policy and funding perspectives in clinical services and implementation science. The paper will review the trends in suicide care policy and funding structures as relevant to adolescents and young adults in outpatient medical settings, provide recommendations to advance the translation of research into evidence-based policy decisions for adolescents and young adults at risk of suicide, and recommendations for researchers on incorporating policy perspectives in the development and evaluation of evidence-based interventions. We will share how the University of Washington Suicide Care Research Center is operationalizing these recommendations.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

Developing and implementing a process improvement intervention to expand evidence-based psychotherapy in the Department of Defense

Authors:

Jeffrey Cook, Melissa Mistretta, Carmen P. McLean, Jeffrey Mann, Erin Frick, Alan L. Peterson, Stacey Young-McCaughan, Elisa V. Borah, Katherine Anne Comtois, Katherine A. Dondanville, Allison M. Conforte, Jeremy Jinkerson, Zachary K. Jones
81st Medical Group, Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Hana J. Kim, Jared S. Link, Debra Nofziger, Erik N. Ringdahl, John Waggoner, Craig Woodworth, Craig S. Rosen, & David S. Riggs

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

Subscription Required for Full Text Access

Published: April 2025

Read the full text in the subscription access journal Psychological Services

Acute and intensive care nurses’ perspectives on suicide prevention with medically hospitalized patients: Exploring barriers, facilitators, interests, and training opportunities

Authors:

Doyanne Darnell, Andria Pierson, Joanne D. Whitney, Catherine A. Wolkow, Shannon Dorsey, Edwin D. Boudreaux, Patricia A. Areán & Katherine Anne Comtois

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

Subscription Required for Full Text Access

Published: March 2023

Read the full text in the subscription access journal Journal of Advanced Nursing

✪ Adapting Caring Contacts for Veterans in a Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Department: Results From a Type 2 Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Pilot Study

Authors:

Sara J. Landes, Susan M. Jegley, JoAnn E. Kirchner, John P. Areno, Jeffery A. Pitcock, Traci H. Abraham, Sacha A. McBain, R. Sonia Singh, Mary J. Bollinger, Jacob Painter, Jack A. Woods, Nyssa D. Curtis, Donald E. Jones Jr, Bridget B. Matarazzo, Mark A. Reger, and Katherine Anne Comtois

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: October 2021

Read the full text in the open access journal Frontiers in Psychiatry
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Abstract:

Transitions in care, such as discharge from an emergency department (ED), are periods of increased risk for suicide and effective interventions that target these periods are needed. Caring Contacts is an evidence-based suicide prevention intervention that targets transitions, yet it has not been widely implemented. This pilot study adapted Caring Contacts for a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ED setting and population, created an implementation toolkit, and piloted implementation and evaluation of effectiveness. To inform adaptation, qualitative interviews were conducted with stakeholders. Data were used by an advisory board comprised of stakeholders, experts, and veterans to make adaptations and develop an implementation planning guide to delineate steps needed to implement. Key decisions about how to adapt Caring Contacts included recipients, author, content, and the schedule for sending. Pilot implementation occurred at one VA ED. Caring Contacts involved sending patients at risk of suicide brief, non-demanding expressions of care.

Program evaluation of the pilot used a type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation design to both pilot an implementation strategy and evaluate effectiveness of Caring Contacts. Evaluation included qualitative interviews with veteran patients during implementation. VA electronic health records were used to evaluate VA service utilization in the 6-month periods immediately before and after veterans were delivered their first Caring Contact. Hundred and seventy-five veterans were mailed Caring Contacts and the facility continued adoption after the pilot. Participants were positive about the intervention and reported feeling cared about and connected to VA as a result of receiving Caring Contacts. This project developed an implementation planning process that successfully implemented Caring Contacts at one site. This can be used to further implement Caring Contacts at additional VA or community EDs.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

Targeted Assessment and Context-Tailored Implementation of Change Strategies (TACTICS) to increase evidence based psychotherapy in military behavioral health clinics: Design of a cluster-randomized stepped-wedge implementation study

Authors:

Craig S. Rosen
C. Adrian Davis, David Riggs, Jeffery Cook, Alan L. Peterson, Stacey Young-McCaughan, Katherine Anne Comtois, Christopher K. Haddock, Elisa V. Borah, Katherine A. Dondanville, Erin P. Finley, Sara A. Jahnke, Walker S.C. Poston, Shannon Wiltsey-Stirman, Andrea Neitzer, Capt Rachel Broussard, MAJ Amy Brzuchalski, Maj Spencer P. Clayton, LT Allison M. Conforte, Araceli Flores, Jessica Hein, Capt Felicia Keith, Capt Jeremy Jinkerson, Margaret Letendre, Debra Nofziger, Kirsten Pollick, Capt Kyra Santiago, Lt Col John Waggoner, Craig Woodworth, and Carmen P. McLean for the STRONG STAR Consortium andthe TACTICS Research Group

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

Subscription Required for Full Text Access

Published: April 2020

Read the full text in the subscription access journal Contemporary Clinical Trials