Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

This is the first paper to examine the quality of mental health care nationally in the United States .  Because most people with psychiatric disorders receive no treatment, understanding how we're doing as a nation requires that one start by screening for psychiatric disorders in the general population, even including people who are not in treatment. This study was a unique opportunity to do just that. Health services researchers are very concerned about the serious problems that exist in the quality of mental health care, and in actually doing something to improve this care.  This article provides an overview of the “quality” problem; hence it is relevant to a lot of peoples' work.

  Does it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that's useful to others?

While it has been known for some time that many people with psychiatric disorders do not receive appropriate treatment, this study allowed us to estimate the magnitude of the problem, and understand the nature of the problem in more detail.

  What were some of the circumstances that led you to do this research?

I am a health services researcher at both the VA and UCLA.  This study is part of the project, HealthCare for Communities, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  We use data from this project, which is a larger effort to track the organization and financing of mental health care in the US , and understand how it affects cost, quality and outcomes for people with psychiatric disorders.

Alexander S. Young, Director, Health Services unit, 
VA Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center 
(MIRECC; www.mirecc.org); and, Associate Professor, UCLA 
Los Angeles, CA