Biomedical subjects

M E McGann

Publications and source records attributed to M E McGann.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1997

Racial differences in the utilization of public mental health services in Washington State.

This study analyzed racial differences in the use of public outpatient mental health services in four regions of Washington State. Patients in this study were enrolled in the state's mental health management information system, which contains detailed information about patient characteristics and service utilization. There were distinct racial differences with respect to baseline characteristics, and even after adjusting for these characteristics and region of the state as well, racial differences in the type and amount of services used persisted. In particular, African-Americans were more likely to use crisis services and were less likely to use individual or group treatment. This previously reported finding requires further exploration.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Identifying depressive symptoms among elderly Medicare HMO enrollees.

Increasing attention has been devoted to the urgent need for identifying depressive symptomatology at the primary care point of contact for older individuals to prevent more serious disease and potential negative behavioral outcomes. Delivering medical care services in a system that is sensitive to the symptoms of depression may lead to greater cost-effectiveness and improved quality of life. This paper examines the correlates of depression in a random sample of 1800 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in a risk-sharing HMO. Ten percent of the total sample reported a high degree of depressive symptoms, as measured by the CES-D score. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was significantly higher for those who were not married, reported less well-developed social support networks, had low perceived ability to control future health, or had poorer health status. Depressive symptoms were also associated with a greater number of physician office visits and higher ambulatory charges, although no significant relationship was found for inpatient use or total charges. Practical approaches to monitoring depressive symptomatology at the primary care level in an HMO are suggested.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Continuing education needs assessment: a brief report.

A needs assessment was conducted to quantify the need for, and the capacity to provide, public health continuing education in San Diego County, California. The study was conducted with the objective of developing public health continuing education courses to be offered by the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health (SDSU-GSPH) to address the unmet demands of local practitioners. Survey instruments were developed to separately assess the continuing education needs of public health practitioners and the capacity of SDSU-GSPH faculty to provide courses in San Diego County. The faculty survey was distributed to all full-time SDSU-GSPH faculty. Practitioner surveys were distributed to a systematic sample of divisions and subdivisions in the County of San Diego Department of Health Services. The overall survey response rates were 71% for faculty (22/31) and 40% for practitioners (190/470). Practitioners indicated a strong interest in several of the 64 specific course topics they were asked to rate. Reported faculty interest and capacity to teach continuing education courses appears to be limited. The analysis confirms a need to improve and increase SDSU-GSPH public health continuing education offerings. Further, our results suggest that external instructional resources will be needed to meet this educational demand.

Attitude↗