Audrey L. Jones

Audrey L. Jones, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Internal Medicine

Divisions: Epidemiology

Academic Office Information

Audrey.Jones@hsc.utah.edu

Research Interests

  • Access and Quality of Mental Health/Substance Abuse Services
  • Primary Care-Mental Health Integration
  • Patient Experiences with Care
  • Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health and Mental Health Services

Audrey L. Jones, Ph.D., is a health services researcher with the VA’s Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center of Innovation at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. A key focus of her research is to design and test integrated models of primary care to improve mental health care access, quality and outcomes for Veterans from vulnerable populations. Funded by a VA HSR&D career development award, Dr. Jones’s research is identifying optimal primary care service models for Veterans experiencing homelessness. For instance, her research found the VA’s homeless-tailored medical home model (called “H-PACT”) improves Veterans’ experience with health care, is associated with reductions in problematic patterns of emergency department use, and is more effective than traditional primary care approaches at linking homeless Veterans to timely treatment for depression. Nearly 60 VAs have implemented H-PACTs across the country. Dr. Jones’ current work is focused on identifying what ingredients of the H-PACT model work in order to help the VA scale best practices and improve mental health care delivery and outcomes for other vulnerable Veteran populations.

Dr. Jones earned her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management from the University of California-Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health where her research focused on racial and ethnic disparities in mental health services. She completed post-doctoral training in health services research at the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) at the VA Pittsburgh Health Care System, and an advanced fellowship in medical informatics at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. Her post-doctoral research illuminated disparities in healthcare experiences in the VA, including satisfaction with care, healthcare distrust, and perceptions of unfair treatment. She published one of the first national studies of perceptions of health care among homeless Veterans – a group traditionally excluded from population-based survey research. Currently, Dr. Jones is a Research Health Scientist with the IDEAS Center at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and Co-Director of Evaluation for the Vulnerable Veteran Innovative Patient Aligned Care Team (VIP) Initiative, a five-year clinical and research collaboration to improve health care delivery and outcomes for Veterans with clinical and social vulnerabilities. She is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and an Implementation Research Institute Fellow at Washington University in St Louis, Mo.

Education History

Postdoctoral Fellowship VA Salt Lake City Health Care System
 Postdoctoral Fellow
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Doctoral Training University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health
 PhD
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
 BA

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Percy A, Kelley AT, Valentino N, Butz A, Baylis JD, Suo Y, Gordon AJ, Jones AL (2023). Care Practices of Mental Health Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners Within an Interdisciplinary Primary Care Model for Patients With Substance Use Disorders. Subst Abus, 44(4), 330-336. (Read full article)
  2. Jones AL, Chu K, Rose DE, Gelberg L, Kertesz SG, Gordon AJ, Wells KB, Leung L (2023). Quality of Depression Care for Veterans Affairs Primary Care Patients with Experiences of Homelessness. J Gen Intern Med. (Read full article)
  3. Jones AL, Rafferty J, Cochran SD, Abelson J, Mays VM (2022). Persistence, Impairment, Disability and Unmet Treatment of Lifetime and 12-Month Anxiety Disorders in Black Men and Women, 50 Years of Age and Older. J Aging Health, 34(3), 378-389. (Read full article)
  4. Jones AL, Kelley AT, Suo Y, Baylis JD, Codell NK, West NA, Gordon AJ (2022). Trends in Health Service Utilization After Enrollment in an Interdisciplinary Primary Care Clinic for Veterans with Addiction, Social Determinants of Health, or Other Vulnerabilities. J Gen Intern Med, 38(1), 12-20. (Read full article)
  5. Jones AL, Gordon AJ, Gabrielian SE, Montgomery AE, Blosnich JR, Varley AL, deRussy AJ, Austin EL, Hoge AE, Kim YI, Gelberg L, Kertesz SG (2022). Perceptions of Care Coordination Among Homeless Veterans Receiving Medical Care in the Veterans Health Administration and Community Care Settings: Results From a National Survey. Med Care, 59(6), 504-512. (Read full article)
  6. Gabrielian S, Jones AL, Hoge AE, deRussy AJ, Kim YI, Montgomery AE, Blosnich JR, Gordon AJ, Gelberg L, Austin EL, Pollio D, Holmes SK, Varley AL, Kertesz SG (2021). Enhancing Primary Care Experiences for Homeless Patients with Serious Mental Illness: Results from a National Survey. J Prim Care Community Health, 12, 2150132721993654. (Read full article)
  7. Hausmann LRM, Jones AL, McInnes SE, Zickmund SL (2020). Identifying healthcare experiences associated with perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination among veterans with pain: A cross-sectional mixed methods survey. PLoS One, 15(9), e0237650. (Read full article)
  8. Jones AL, Hausmann LRM, Kertesz SG, Suo Y, Cashy JP, Mor MK, Pettey WBP, Schaefer JH Jr, Gordon AJ, Gundlapalli AV (2019). Providing Positive Primary Care Experiences for Homeless Veterans Through Tailored Medical Homes: The Veterans Health Administration's Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams. Med Care, 57(4), 270-278. (Read full article)
  9. Jones AL, Mor MK, Haas GL, Gordon AJ, Cashy JP, Schaefer JH Jr, Hausmann LRM (2018). The Role of Primary Care Experiences in Obtaining Treatment for Depression. J Gen Intern Med, 33(8), 1366-1373. (Read full article)
  10. Jones AL, Hausmann LRM, Kertesz S, Suo Y, Cashy JP, Mor MK, Schaefer JH Jr, Gundlapalli AV, Gordon AJ (2018). Differences in Experiences With Care Between Homeless and Nonhomeless Patients in Veterans Affairs Facilities With Tailored and Nontailored Primary Care Teams. Med Care, 56(7), 610-618. (Read full article)
  11. Jones AL, Cochran SD, Leibowitz A, Wells KB, Kominski G, Mays VM (2018). Racial, ethnic, and nativity differences in mental health visits to primary care and specialty mental health providers: Analysis of the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, 2010-2015. Healthcare (Basel), 6(2), 29.