Health Services Disparities Research Program

UCSF Department of Psychiatry faculty at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center conduct a range of research on mental health services for underserved populations, with a particular focus on disparities in service access, use, and quality.

Recently completed studies include:

  • a randomized pilot trial of consumer-based psychoeducation for black mental health clients
  • a study of the relationship between limited English proficiency and access to mental health care
  • an examination of the effect of neighborhood racial and ethnic composition on mental health-related 911 calls
  • explorations of racial/ethnic and other sociodemographic disparities in the use of medical and mental health services following sexual assault
     

Ongoing studies include the study of metabolic syndrome and barriers to metabolic monitoring among persons with severe and persistent mental illness; the impact of threshold language policies on access to mental health treatment; cognitive, social and cultural factors in mental health outcome measurement; mental health and high risk pregnancy; and the relationships between individual and community factors and use of psychiatric emergency services.

Department faculty have active research collaborations with investigators from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, UC Berkeley, and other universities and community agencies.

Principal investigators

Funding sources