Category: Health Care System / Public Policy
Samantha Spoor, B.S.
Graduate Student
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Julia Nicholas, B.S.
PhD Student
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Jessica Schleider, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York
Julia Nicholas, B.S.
PhD Student
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Taylor Penwell, PhD
Study Coordinator
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Philip Baiden, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, Texas
April Smith, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama
Emily Kline, Ph.D.
Boston University School of Medicine
Boston, Massachusetts
Despite its status as one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, access to healthcare in the United States (U.S.) is in a perpetual state of crisis (Hoffman & Paradise, 2006). Many Americans experience unique barriers to treatment access. For example, those with pre-existing conditions (e.g., cancer; Weaver et al., 2010) may either forgo or delay basic medical services (e.g., mental healthcare) for financial reasons. Approximately 28 million Americans are completely uninsured (Keisler-Starkey & Bunch, 2021). Identifying ways to increase access to care is a critical task for high-mortality and/or “high risk” mental health populations, such as those with eating disorders (EDs), suicidal behavior, serious mental health (SMH) problems, and critically underserved populations (e.g., Black youth). This symposium synthesizes research across high-mortality mental health specialties to share lessons learned about barriers to treatment access and strategies to broaden life-saving treatment access in the U.S. and the global community. By integrating research in often-siloed specialties into transdiagnostic dialogue, we aim to identify strategies to address cross-cutting patient, provider, and system-level barriers to treatment access. Furthermore, this symposium will examine system-level challenges that impede treatment access for underserved populations to address pervasive inequities in mental health treatment and outcomes. This symposium will also shed light on barriers to treatment access that may apply across global health care systems (e.g., stigma).
The first two talks will focus on identifying barriers to treatment access in the EDs. The first presenter will present data from a national online survey in partnership with Project HEAL, a national non-profit focused on increasing treatment access, assessing both person-level and systemic barriers to treatment access in the EDs. The second presenter will present data collected by a state eating disorders council to examine provider-level barriers to treatment access among medical and behavioral health providers across a rural U.S. state. The next two talks will focus on barriers to treatment access among two distinct populations at the intersection of high-mortality psychopathology and healthcare 1) underservice (Black youth), or 2) underutilization (active-duty service members and veterans). The third presenter will present data on barriers to treatment access for racial and ethnic minority youth with co-occurring suicidality and substance use. The fourth presenter will present data on treatment seeking among active-duty military personnel and veterans with suicidality. Last, the fifth presenter will present data on the effectiveness of 1) a provider-level solution, and 2) a family-level solution to barriers to treatment access for individuals experiencing first-episode psychosis.
Finally, an eminent advocate for closing the research-service gap in clinical psychology will serve as a discussant across all presentations. The discussant will speak to similar and contrasting U.S. specific and global barriers to treatment access across the transdiagnostic scope of the symposium.
Presenter: Julia K. Nicholas, B.S. – University of Louisville
Co-author: Taylor E. Penwell, PhD – University of Louisville
Co-author: Caroline Christian, M.S. – The University of Louisville
Co-author: Kate Overberg-Wagoner, MSSW – Kentucky Eating Disorders Council
Co-author: Nicholas Peiper, PhD, MPH – University of Louisville
Co-author: Cheri Levinson, Ph.D. – University of Louisville
Presenter: Taylor E. Penwell, PhD – University of Louisville
Co-author: Samantha P. Spoor, B.S. – University of Wyoming
Co-author: Rebecca Eyre, M.A. – Project HEAL
Co-author: Cheri Levinson, Ph.D. – University of Louisville
Presenter: Philip Baiden, Ph.D. – The University of Texas at Arlington
Co-author: Hannah Szlyk, LCSW, PhD – Washington University School of Medicine
Co-author: Chioma Muoghalu, MD – Plains Regional Medical Center
Co-author: Henry Onyeaka, MB, ChB – Harvard Medical School
Presenter: April Smith, Ph.D. – Auburn University
Presenter: Emily R. Kline, Ph.D. – Boston University School of Medicine