Collaboration is key

DESC has partnered with the University of Washington for decades. We work together across multiple UW schools and departments on a range of activities, including clinical care for our clients, research and evaluation of DESC’s work and opportunities for students to learn and gain real world experience.

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Clinical care

UW MEDICINE HARBORVIEW MEDICAL CENTER

Harborview primary care RN, ARNP, and MD services at: DESC emergency shelters (since 1984!), DESC outpatient behavioral health clinics at 1811 Eastlake, The Estelle and the Union Hotel.
Harborview and DESC data matching project to enhance care coordination between the two organizations.
HMC has been siting nurses and doctors at DESC supportive housing sites and inside emergency shelters since 1984.

UW SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Students at the UW School of medicine have provided dermatology and foot-care clinics in our emergency shelters.

Research

UW MEDICINE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded Housing First outcomes research. UW researchers showed that providing housing and on-site services without requirements of abstinence or treatment is significantly more cost-effective than allowing them to remain homeless. Results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

UW MEDICINE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Washington Institute for Mental Health Research and Training, Division of Public Behavioral Health & Justice Policy

Evaluation of DESC’s Vulnerability Assessment Tool

UW MEDICINE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Center for Healthcare Improvement for Addictions, Mental Illness, and Medically Vulnerable Populations (CHAMMP)

A physical and behavioral healthcare integration evaluation

UW MEDICINE, DIVISION OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Seattle Flu Study, study of flu transmission incongregate shelter

UW MEDICINE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center

The LEAP project, funded by NIH, evaluated harm reduction programming for people with lived experience of chronic homelessness and severe alcohol use disorder in a Housing First program.
LEAP 2.0, funded by NIH, continues a long-term partnership among the UW HaRRT Center, Housing First residents and DESC staff. Researchers are conducting a 10-site, controlled trial to assess LEAP’s impact.
Staying in Touch and Engaged Project (STEP) was a four-month joint study between the UW and WSU to support activities and engagement with DESC clients during the COVID-19 pandemic safety protocols.
The HaRTS-TRENDS smoking harm reduction study compares two smoking cessation methods among single adults experiencing chronic homelessness who are clients of agencies providing supportive housing.
A NIH-funded pharmaceutical intervention study tested the efficacy of combining medication with counseling to reduce harm from alcohol and improve quality of life among people experiencing homelessness and severe alcohol use disorder.
DESC, REACH and Harborview Medical Center evaluated and co-developed, with people experiencing homelessness and Alcohol Use Disorder, an alcohol harm-reduction alternative to treatment based on abstinence.
Seattle contracted for an evaluation of the Navigation Center created and served by Seattle, DESC, Reach and SPD. The center is a low-barrier, 24-hour, 60-day, referral-only shelter for adults experiencing unsheltered homelessness and substance use disorder.
A pilot study of naltrexone as medication support for harm reduction counseling among currently and formerly homeless individuals with alcohol dependence.
The HaRTS smoking harm reduction pilot study was codeveloped with clients, staff and management at DESC. The goal was to create an innovative and client-driven alternative to traditional smoking cessation interventions.
The HaRTC study is a 3-phase study that comprises the adaptation and randomized controlled trial of harm reduction talking circles (HaRTC) for urban Native primary care patients experiencing AUD.

UW MEDICINE, DIVISION OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES

A UW study on COVID-19 at 14 homeless shelters showed the need for routine viral testing and that people in shelters may be at greater risk for outbreaks. The findings were reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

UW DEPT OF PSYCHOLOGY, ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS RESEARCH CENTER