Dr. Gretchen Buchanan studies implementation of social-emotional and behavioral health services within the primary care medical setting. She is also interested in examining the multi-level nature of implementation mechanisms and mapping implementation strategies for intervention scaling up and out. She earned her PhD in Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota and her dissertation on integrated behavioral healthcare was completed in collaboration with a regional collaborative healthcare quality improvement organization. Gretchen has a background as a marriage and family therapist and alcohol and drug counselor, and has worked with adolescents, families, and adults in a variety of settings. Through her clinical work she developed a passion for addressing health disparities and increasing access to high-quality, non-stigmatizing emotional and behavioral supports for parents and families. She is a strong advocate for prevention and screening services and wants her research to have an impact on helping kids and their families get and stay emotionally healthy, particularly with addressing unrecognized and untreated parental mental health concerns. Gretchen’s research focuses on increasing implementation of programs and services that address emotional and behavioral health locally and across the country.
