Gala True, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine
Education & Affiliations
Biography
Gala True, PhD, is Research Associate Professor of Medicine and an Investigator with the South Central Mental Illness Research and Education Center (MIRECC) and the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS)
Dr. True is a social scientist with over 15 years of experience conducting health services research with vulnerable populations. Her work focuses on improving access to care and the health of individuals and communities through patient-centered and community-engaged research approaches. Her most recent research employs participatory action research methods to collaborate with Veterans and other key stakeholders on identifying barriers to post-deployment care and proposing solutions for improving community reintegration after separation from military service. Dr. True has extensive expertise in qualitative and community-engaged research methods including participant observation, Photovoice and photo-elicitation, individual and dyadic interviews, and focus groups. She frequently collaborates with colleagues to incorporate qualitative and mixed methods research design into health services research. She mentors junior investigators on the use of visual and narrative data in health research, and serves on the Advisory Board of several national organizations focused on the role of arts and creativity in promoting recovery from trauma.
She is also Project Director of From War to Home (www.va.gov/FromWarToHome), a traveling exhibit of Veterans' photo-narratives focused on how military service and deployment impact health, challenges in making the transition to civilian life, and sources of support and healing. The exhibit has been installed in dozens of galleries and medical centers since 2010, and the project includes an ongoing collaboration between Dr. True and Veterans who contributed to the exhibit.
Prior to joining Tulane, Dr. True was a Core Investigator with the VA's Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (2007-2015), Co-Director of the Qualitative Core for the VISN 4 Center for Evaluation of Patient Aligned Care Teams (2009-2014), and Research Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia (2011-2015).
Research
Dr. True has led or collaborated on dozens of NIH, VA, and foundation-funded research projects. She was recently awarded 3-years of VA funding to continue and expand her research with Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through Participatory Action Research with Veterans who experience a traumatic brain injury, their family care partners, and key VA and community stakeholders. This multi-site study will include Veterans from rural communities to understand the extent to which they use community resources to meet their health care needs, and how the VA can better partner with Veterans, families, and community-based organizations to ensure access and quality of care.
Dr. True has been Co-Investigator on VA-funded studies focused on Veterans' access to and use of health care services including: treatment of insomnia and PTSD using telemedicine; barriers to reporting Military Sexual Trauma and engaging in follow-up care; and health care utilization by Veterans who screen positive for homelessness or intimate partner violence. She is also involved in a mixed methods research study to identify best practices for promoting inpatient psychiatric safety. Through an ongoing, multi-year collaboration with colleagues in Pennsylvania, New York, and Boston, Dr. True has conducted research to describe and understand the role of Community Researchers in public health research, and in particular, the ethical issues that arise when community members are hired to conduct research activities in their own communities.
Contributions
Raines, A., Capron, D., Stentz, L., Walton, J., Allan, N., McManus, E., Uddo, M., True, G.,& Franklin, C. (2017). Posttraumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation, plans, and impulses: The mediating role of anxiety sensitivity cognitive concerns among veterans. Journal of Affective Disorders 222, 57-62.
Miller, R., Goldstein, K., Michener, J., Yang, P., Groce-Martin, J., & True, G. Impact of a Community Based Service Learning Experience in Geriatrics on Internal Medicine Residents and Community Partners. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,(In press).
True, G., Alexander, L., & Fisher, C. (2017) Supporting the role of community members employed as research staff: Perspectives of community researchers working in addiction Research. Social Science & Medicine. 187, 67-75.
Metraux, S., Cusack, M., Byrne, T. H., Hunt-Johnson, N., & True, G. (2017) Pathways into Homelessness among Post-9/11 Era Veterans. Psychological Services, 14(2) 229-237.
Dichter, M., Wagner, C., & True, G. (2016). Women Veteran’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Non-partner Sexual Assault in the Context of Military Service: Implications for supporting women’s health and well-being. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-22. DOI:10.1177/0886260516669166
Moriarty, H. J., Winter, L., True, G., Robinson, K., & Short, T. H. Depressive Symptomatology Mediates Associations with Community Reintegration in Veterans with TBI. Military Psychology, doi:10.1037/mil0000122.
Mitchell, M. A., Hedyati, D. O., Rodriguez, K. L., True, G., Balable, S. N., Gordon, A. J., Conley, J. W., & Boyles L. M. (2016). Logistical Lessons Learned in Designing and Executing a Photo- Elicitation Study in the Veterans Health Administration. The Qualitative Report, 21(7), 1303- 1315.
Moriarty, H., Winter, L., Robinson, K., Piersol, K. V., Vause-Erland, T., Iacovone, D., Newhart, B., True, G., Fishman, D., Hodgson, N., & Gitlin, L. (2016). A Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate the Veterans’ In-home Program for Military Families with Traumatic Brain Injury and Their Families: Report on Impact for Family Members. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 8(6), 495-509.
Fields, B., McCloskey, S., Richardson, D., True, G., & Kuna S. (2016).
Remote Ambulatory Management of Veterans with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. SLEEP, 39(3), 501-509.
Johnson, J., Hayden, T., & True, G. (2016). The Impact of Faith Beliefs on Perceptions of End-of-Life Care and Decision-making Among African American Church Members. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 19(2), 143-148.
Dichter, M., Wagner, C., & True, G. (2015). Timing of Intimate Partner Violence in Relationship to Military Service among Women Veterans Military Medicine. Military Medicine, 180(11), 1124-1127.
Gala True, Khary Rigg, Anneliese Butler: Understanding Barriers to Mental Health Care for Recent War Veterans through Photovoice. Qualitative Health Research 25 (10); 1443-1455, 2015.
Kenneth Richman, Leslie Alexander, Gala True: How do Street-Level Research Workers Think about the Ethics of Doing Research "On the Ground" with Marginalized Target Populations? American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research 6 (2); 1-11, 2015.
Melissa Dichter and Gala True: "This is the story of why my military career ended before it should have:" Premature Separation from Military Service among U.S. Women Veterans. AFFILIA: Journal of Women and Social Work 30 (2); 187-199, 2014.
Melissa Dichter, Clara Wagner, Gala True: Timing of Intimate Partner Violence in Relationship to Military Service among Women Veterans Military Medicine. Military Medicine forthcoming, 2015.
Gala True, Greg Stewart, Michelle Lampman, Mary Pelak, Samantha Solimeo: Teamwork and Delegation in Medical Homes: Primary Care Staff Perspectives in the Veterans Health Administration. Journal of General Internal Medicine 29(2): 632-639, 2014.
Eva Bugos, Rosemary Frasso, Elizabeth FitzGerald, Gala True, Anna M. Adachi-Mejia, Carolyn Cannuscio: Practical Guidance and Ethical Considerations for Studies Using Photo-Elicitation Interviews. Preventing Chronic Disease 11(E189): 1-9, 2014.
Anneliese Butler, Anne Canamucio, David Macpherson, Jennifer Skoko, Gala True: Primary Care Staff Perspectives on a Virtual Collaborative to Support Medical Home Implementation. Journal of General Internal Medicine 29(2): 579-588, 2014.
Rachel Werner, Anne Canamucio, Judy Shea, and Gala True: The Medical Home Transformation in the Veterans Health Administration: An Evaluation of Early Changes in Primary Care Delivery. Health Services Research 49(4): 1329-1347, 2014.
R. Tyson Smith and Gala True: Warring Identities: Identity Conflict and the Mental Distress of American Veterans of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Society and Mental Health 4(2): 147-161, 2014.
True, G, Butler, A, Lamparska, B, Lempa, M, Shea, J, Asch, D, Werner, R: Open Access in the Patient-Centered Medical Home: Lessons from the Veterans Health Administration. Journal of General Internal Medicine 28(4): 539-545, 2013.
Celia B. Fisher, Gala True, Leslie B. Alexander, and Adam L. Fried: Moral Stress, Moral Practice, and Ethical Climate in Community-Based Drug Use Research: Views from the Front Line. American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research 4(3): 27-38, 2013.
Amy M. Corcoran, Gala True, Natasha Charles, Katherine L. Margo: Geriatric Palliative Care: Do Medical Student Narrative Reflections after a Hospice Clinical Experience Link to Geriatric Competencies? Gerontology and Geriatrics Education Page: DOI: 10.1080/02701960.2013.815180, 2013.
Kenneth Richman, Leslie Alexander, and Gala True: Proximity, Ethical Dilemmas, and Community Research Workers. American Journal of Bioethics: Primary Research 3(4): 19-29, 2012.
Crowley-Matoka, M. and Gala True: No One Wants to be the Candyman: Ambivalent Medicalization and Clinician Subjectivity in Pain Management. Cultural Anthropology 27(4): 689-712, 2012.
True G, Alexander LB, Richman R.: Misbehaviors of Front-Line Research Personnel and the Integrity of Community-Based Research. JERHRE: Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 6(2): 3-12, June 2011.
True G, Phipps E, Braitman L, Harralson T, Harris D, Tester W. : Treatment Preferences and Advance Care Planning at End of Life: The Role of Ethnicity and Spiritual Coping in Cancer Patients. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 30(2): 174-179, 2005.
