Connecticut’s State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW)
SEOW Mission:
The mission of the SEOW is to strengthen the data infrastructure and capacity of state agencies to implement data-driven strategic planning initiatives, using a collaborative workgroup approach.
Connecticut’s State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) is a collaborative group of state agency representatives and key stakeholders committed to the identification, sharing and use of data to improve substance abuse prevention, mental health promotion, and behavioral health in general. The goals of the SEOW are to:
- Increase access to data that may inform inter-agency planning and collaboration;
- Increase cross-agency understanding of the strengths and limitations of available datasets;
- Share state agency areas of expertise and knowledge to access, interpret and use data;
- Maximize the use of data;
- Promote data-driven decision-making to improve planning, evaluation and more effective and efficient targeting of prevention resources;
- Explore and expand opportunities for collaboration around issues of common concern;
- Contribute to advancement and enhancement of the SEOW Prevention Data Portal;
- Advise the ongoing data-related work of CPES;
- Interface with and inform the Alcohol and Drug Policy Council (ADPC) and its Prevention Subcommittee;
- Support multiple initiatives within and across agencies; and
- Review available data to assess and address health disparities in Connecticut.
|
SPF Step |
SEOW Activities |
|
NEEDS ASSESSMENT |
Determine data needs; Identify, collect and analyze data to identify problems; Interpret data findings to determine priority needs; Create state level epidemiological profiles |
|
CAPACITY BUILDING |
Assist in the identification, collection, analysis, and interpretation of capacity data; Provide data and information to key stakeholders to mobilize and enhance state and community resources to address prevention priorities; Support local epidemiological workgroups and coalitions |
|
PLANNING |
Establish links between assessment findings and priorities for resource allocations; Identify gaps and/or duplication in State services; Use data to recommend targets for the State Strategic Prevention Plan (places, populations, behaviors) |
|
IMPLEMENTATION OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES |
Determine strategies that effectively address priorities in the State Strategic Prevention Plan; Play a role in establishing links among behavioral health problems, causal factors that contribute to identified problems, and evidence-based strategies to address causal factors and problems |
|
MONITORING AND EVALUATION |
Assist in developing data monitoring plan based on data priorities that emerge; Contribute to ongoing data collection and analysis to examine changes over time in substance and mental-health related risk factors and problems; Contribute data to the SEOW Prevention Data Portal; Based on trends, recommend adjustments to prevention initiatives |
The SEOW is staffed by the DMHAS-funded Center for Prevention Evaluation and Statistics (CPES) and co-chaired by Dr. Megan O’Grady (UConn Health) and Karin Haberlin (DMHAS).
Karin Haberlin joined the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services in 2004, beginning as a data manager in the Research Division. She has been a program manager in the Evaluation, Quality Management, and Improvement unit for 16 years. Ms. Haberlin oversees the evaluation activities of the division, including the annual consumer satisfaction survey and production of the agency’s annual statistical data report. She also manages client level data reporting activities to the federal government, as required by SAMHSA block grants. Ms. Haberlin is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication, University of Connecticut; her research focuses on health information seeking and barriers to access to health information, particularly in behavioral health populations. She holds a BA degree in anthropology from Brandeis University and a MA degree in the social sciences from the University of Chicago. In addition to co-chairing the Connecticut State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), she is an appointed member of the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy’s Quality Council and an advisory board member for the state’s Office of Rural Health.
Dr. Megan O’Grady is a social psychologist and health services researcher who joined the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 2020. She previously spent nine years as a Research Scientist and Associate Director of Health Services Research at Partnership to End Addiction in New York City. Her research and evaluation program aims to improve the system of care for, and prevention of, substance use disorders and focuses on three main areas: 1) implementation of integrated care and evidenced-based treatment and prevention practices, 2) development and implementation of technology tools for health and addiction care settings, and 3) quality improvement and systems-level interventions. Dr. O’Grady is the principal investigator on an NIH-funded study examining the implementation of a text messaging program for unhealthy alcohol use in emergency departments, co-investigator on 4 NIH-funded studies on substance use treatment services, and lead evaluator on several SAMHSA- and State-funded projects in partnership with New York State and the State of Connecticut. In addition, she directs the DMHAS Center for Prevention Evaluation and Statistics at UConn Health and co-chairs the Connecticut State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW). She received her PhD from Colorado State University and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the NIH-funded University of Connecticut School of Medicine Alcohol Research Center.
SEOW Member Organizations:
DataHaven
Office Of the Child Advocate (OCA)
UConn Health
Board of Pardons and Parole
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS)
Southeast Regional Action Council (SERAC)
UConn School of Social Work
Yale School of Medicine
Office of Policy and Management (OPM)
State Department of Education
Yale School of Public Health
Department of Public Health (DPH)
Department of Correction (DOC)
CT Hospital Association (CHA)
Naugatuck Youth Services
Department of Consumer Protection (DCP)
Court Support Services Division (CSSD)
Connecticut Data Collaborative (CTData)
Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF)
Center for Public Health and Health Policy
If you are interested in becoming a part of the SEOW, please contact:
Jennifer Sussman, CPES Coordinator, sussman@uchc.edu