Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mental Health Interventions and Access for Rural Children in Tennessee
April 10, 2020 | 12pm
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mental Health Interventions and Access for Rural Children in Tennessee
Rising prevalence of mental health conditions and suicidal ideation among children in the United States is a public health crisis. Important barriers to improvement in outcomes of those suffering mental health challenges include undiagnosed illness and undertreatment. Extant literature show that an important factor explaining differences in treatment rates is geographic disparity in access to child psychiatrists. The objectives of the present study are to (1) compare treatment use for rural versus urban children with mental health disorders in Tennessee and (2) measure the impact of psychotherapy on schooling outcomes of rural children in Tennessee. This project will rely on a unique data linkage between TennCare claims data and education administrative data from the Tennessee Education Research Alliance on grades, standardized test scores, attendance, discipline, and socioeconomic status of all public-school students in the state.
About Laura
Laura E. Henkhaus is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Data Science Institute at Vanderbilt University and in the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her research focuses on two main themes: (1) understanding impacts of childhood circumstances and interventions on health and economic 
well-being over the life cycle and (2) examining health care access and measuring quality – especially for mental and behavioral health. Dr. Henkhaus completed her Ph.D. in Health Economics at the University of Southern California. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy from the University of California Berkeley.