Projects & Collaborations

2019 Undergraduate Student Research Symposium

  • Pictured are research assistants Ivette Rodriguez Borja and Jon Berger presenting our poster on Community Perspectives on Stratified Measures for Nursing Home Care Separated by Race/Ethnicity at the 2019 Tufts Undergraduate Student Research Symposium.

Current Projects

Disparities in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders

People of color who need treatment for substance use disorders are less likely to access treatment, and once they enter treatment, they are less likely to complete treatment. In a serious of studies, we have assessed variations in the quality of care of substance use services by race/ethnicity, and the role that community-level factors may have on quality of care and treatment outcomes.

Treatment retention and disparities in adolescent treatment for substance use disorders

Addressing substance use disorders among adolescents is critical to prevent health, economic, and social consequences. This study sought to understand barriers and facilitators to treatment access and retention, and racial/ethnic disparities in these areas from provider perspectives.

Substance use and hospitalizations among older adults

We are currently working on studies examining substance use and its impact among older adults. We are examining the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status on alcohol drinking patterns of older adults. We are also examining race/ethnicity, gender, and geographic variations in hospitalizations for substance use among older adults

Collaborations with Researchers at Other Institutions

Accountable Care Organizations and Mental Health Care Access, Quality, and Disparities in care

Dr. Acevedo is working with researchers at the Health Equity Lab at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School to examine the impact of Medicare’s Accountable Care Organization (ACOs) payment models on access to and quality of mental health care for Medicare beneficiaries, as well as the effect of ACOs on disparities in mental health care.

Improving quality of care for nursing home care to address the needs of racial/ethnic minority populations

Members of our lab with Dr. Jennifer Hefele from UMass Boston’s Department of Gerontology on public reporting of quality measures for nursing homes. The goal of this study to understand community members’ views on the pro’s and con’s of calculating and publicly reporting nursing home quality measures by race/ethnicity.