# Center for Mental Healthcare & Outcomes Research (CeMHOR)

> **NIH VA I50** · CENTRAL ARKANSAS VETERANS HLTHCARE SYS · 2024 · —

## Abstract

The Center for Mental Healthcare & Outcomes Research (CeMHOR) is an HSR&D Center of Innovation whose
mission is to optimize health and well-being of Veterans through innovative research to improve access to and
engagement in evidence-based care for mental health and substance use disorders and prevent suicide.
CeMHOR Strategic Goals are to: 1) Advance knowledge and address gaps in access to and engagement in
evidence-based care for mental health and substance use disorders (Focus Area 1); 2) Develop, test, and
implement suicide prevention strategies (Focus Area 2); 3) Advance innovative research outside of focus
areas; 4) Strengthen strategic partnerships and collaborations with other centers and investigators to address
VA priorities; 5) Provide training, mentoring, and career development in mental health services research and
implementation science; and 6) Engage Veterans and other stakeholders in CeMHOR research. Key
CeMHOR, based at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, partners include the Office of Mental
Health and Suicide Prevention, the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Initiative, the Office of Rural Health,
the VISN 16 Mental Health Product Line, the Behavioral Health QUERI, the South Central MIRECC, and the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Richard Owen, a psychiatrist, has been the Director of
CeMHOR for 19 years; Dr. Teresa Hudson, a health services researcher and pharmacist, has been associate
director for 11 years. CeMHOR investigators possess a diverse background including psychiatrists,
psychologists, pharmacists, social workers, anthropologists, a demographer, a medical sociologist, and an
epidemiologist; their passion for improved care for Veterans unites them to investigate the most effective and
impactful methods of advancing health services research and implementing improved care for all Veterans.
CeMHOR has two primary focus areas: 1) improving access to and engagement in evidence-based care for
Veterans with mental health and substance use disorders; and 2) suicide prevention. These are top priorities
for VA, the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and HSR&D. Research outside these focus areas
includes: 1) research to decrease risks of opioid misuse/abuse and increase treatment of opioid use disorders;
and 2) additional implementation science research. All CeMHOR research is planned, designed, and
conducted with widespread implementation in mind. CeMHOR expertise in rural health and community
engagement and our location in a largely rural VISN also informs our work.
CeMHOR investigators have pioneered development, testing, and implementation of interventions to improve
access to and engagement mental health care, with an emphasis on improving access and care for rural
Veterans. Multiple studies demonstrated the effectiveness of virtual care management for mental disorders,
enabling rural Veterans to receive evidence-based mental health treatments in Community Based Outpatient
Cli...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11095808
- **Project number:** 5I50HX002717-02
- **Recipient organization:** CENTRAL ARKANSAS VETERANS HLTHCARE SYS
- **Principal Investigator:** RICHARD R. OWEN
- **Activity code:** I50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-10-01 → 2023-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11095808

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11095808, Center for Mental Healthcare & Outcomes Research (CeMHOR) (5I50HX002717-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11095808. Licensed CC0.

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