Julie Richards, PhD, MPH

Julie Richards

“My hope is that one day patient-centered care for mental health and substance use is the norm rather than the exception.” 

Julie Angerhofer Richards, PhD, MPH

Associate Scientific Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington School of Public Health

Twitter: @jangerhofer

Biography

Julie Richards, PhD, MPH, is passionate about improving care for mental health and substance use in partnership with people who provide and receive health care. She applies qualitative methods to inform what research questions we should be asking and how we should consider answering them. She employs statistical methods to inform implementation evaluations with a goal of optimizing care delivery and improving clinical practice effectiveness and patient outcomes. 

Dr. Richards recently received new grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to research firearm suicide prevention in health care systems via user-centered design and community-based participatory research. She also collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on a variety of mental health and addiction research projects, supports care delivery research partnerships, and mentors students at the University of Washington as an affiliate assistant professor.

Research interests and experience


Sparc trial tools

Resources for behavioral health integration

The SPARC trial successfully implemented behavioral health care into primary care. On our website, you can access tools for behavioral health integration, as well as frequently asked questions and publications.


Recent publications

Bradley KA, Bobb JF, Ludman EJ, Chavez LJ, Saxon AJ, Merrill JO, Williams EC, Hawkins EJ, Caldeiro RM, Achtmeyer CE, Greenberg DM, Lapham GT, Richards JE, Lee AK, Kivlahan DR. Alcohol-related nurse care management in primary care: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2018 May 1;178(5):613-621. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.0388. PubMed

Williams EC, Achtmeyer CE, Young JP, Berger D, Curran G, Bradley KA, Richards J, Siegel MB, Ludman EJ, Lapham GT, Forehand M, Harris AHS. Barriers to and facilitators of alcohol use disorder pharmacotherapy in primary care: a qualitative study in five VA clinics. J Gen Intern Med. 2017 Oct 30. doi: 10.1007/s11606-017-4202-z. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

Bobb JF, Lee AK, Lapham GT, Oliver M, Ludman E, Achtmeyer C, Parrish R, Caldeiro RM, Lozano P, Richards JE, Bradley KA. Evaluation of a pilot implementation to integrate alcohol-related care within primary care. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Sep 8;14(9). pii: E1030. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14091030.  PubMed

Takahashi T, Lapham G, Chavez LJ, Lee AK, Williams EC, Richards JE, Greenberg D, Rubinsky A, Berger D, Hawkins EJ, Merrill JO, Bradley KA. Comparison of DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria for alcohol use disorders in VA primary care patients with frequent heavy drinking enrolled in a trial.  Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2017;12(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s13722-017-0082-0.  PubMed

Bradley KA, Ludman EJ, Chavez LJ, Bobb JF, Ruedebusch SJ, Achtmeyer CE, Merrill JO, Saxon AJ, Caldeiro RM, Greenberg DM, Lee AK, Richards JE, Thomas RM, Matson TE, Williams EC, Hawkins E, Lapham G, Kivlahan DR. Patient-centered primary care for adults at high risk for AUDs: the Choosing Healthier Drinking Options In primary CarE (CHOICE) trial. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2017 May 17;12(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s13722-017-0080-2. PubMed

 

Research

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Suicide attempts decreased after adding suicide care to primary care

Safety planning and risk screening improved outcomes for adult patients.

Research

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Understanding adoption of Lock to Live, a decision aid supporting suicide prevention

KPWHRI research finds ways to increase use of a firearm safety tool.

News

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Kaiser Permanente expands gun violence prevention work

Equity-focused research by Julie Angerhofer Richards, PhD, MPH, is among the work supported by $3.2 million.

KPWHRI in the media

Julie Angerhofer Richards profiled for PSBJ award

She talks to suicide attempt survivors to advance prevention research

Puget Sound Business Journal, Dec. 6, 2023