| Biography |
 |
|
Dr. David Folsom, M.D. is an Assistant Professor
of Psychiatry and of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California,
San Diego. He is also Co-Director of the UCSD Combined Family Medicine Psychiatry
Residency Training Program. Dr. Folsom's research focuses on improving care for people who
are homeless and mentally ill, and on improving medical care for people with
schizophrenia. His research is funded by an NIMH Career Development Award.
Dr. Folsom has published more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is
board certified in both Psychiatry and Family Medicine. He has served on the
Editorial Board of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, and was recently
awarded the Family Medicine Researcher of the Year award by the California Academy
of Family Physicians. Dr. Folsom provides clinical care to people who are homeless,
working at the St. Vincent de Paul Village free medical clinic in downtown San Diego.
Dr. Folsom's current projects include the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center on Minority Health & Health
Disparities (NCMHD), Comprehensive Research Center in Health Disparities (CRCHD)
funded pilot project, which is described below. |
Pilot Research
Dr. Folsom's study uses qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the
differences between Latino and Caucasian patients in the quality of care they receive for
cardiovascular risk factors related to antipsychotic medication. The study also aims to
explore reasons for these differences and potential interventions to improve care. In the
last few years, there has been a growing concern among clinicians and researchers that newer
atypical antipsychotic medications may present potentially serious adverse effects,
especially long-term Cardiovascular Effects resulting in weight gain, type 2 diabetes mellitus,
hyperlipidemia, and strokes. The long-standing physical and fiscal separation between mental
health and other medical care poses logistic and financial barriers for obtaining care for
the medical side effects of antipsychotics.
By comparing Latino and Caucasian patients, the study hopes to identify
the shortcomings in the quality of care that are shared by both groups and those that are
specific to Latino patients. The Latino patients are of Mexican origin, and are primarily
or exclusively Spanish speaking. There are three sequential phases of this study, each
lasting six months:
- Determining the quality of care received for cardiovascular risk factors
- Semi-structured interviews with patients to elicit barriers and facilitators of this care; and
- Focus groups with mental health case managers, psychiatrists, primary care providers
and mental health system administrators to explore the findings from phases 1 and 2,
and consider potential interventions to address disparities in care.
[ Top ]
|
