Melissa Farmer

Education:

Ph.D., Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, August 1998.

M.S., Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, May 1994.

B.A., Sociology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, May 1992.

Areas of Specialization:

Medical Sociology, Health and Aging, Organizational and Provider Behavior, Quality Improvement Intervention, Cancer Prevention and Control, Smoking Cessation and Colorectal Cancer Screening,  Quantitative Methods.

Research Affiliations:

December 2003- Present: Research Health Scientist; Veterans Administration, Greater Los Angeles HSR&D Center of Excellence for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior. 

July 2000-Present:  Assistant Adjunct Professor.  UCLA School of Public Health, Department of Health Services.  Also with Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research (1998-2003).  

Select Publications:

Rubenstein LV, Hempel S, Farmer MM, et al.  Finding Order in Heterogeneity: Types of Quality Improvement Intervention Publications. Quality and Safety in Health Care.  in press. 

Yano EM, Rubenstein LV, Farmer MM, et al.  "Targeting Primary Care Referrals to Smoking Cessation Clinics Does Not Improve Quit Rates:  The Difficulty of Translating Evidence-based Interventions into Everyday Practice." Health Services Research.  2008 43(5, Part I):1637-1661.

Farmer, MM, Bastani R, Kwan L, Belman M, Ganz PA.  "Predictors of colorectal cancer screening from patients enrolled in a managed care health plan." Cancer.  2008 Mar 15;112(6):1230-8.

Sherman, SE, Estrada M, Farmer MM, Lanto AB, Aldana I.  "Effectiveness of an on-call counselor at increasing smoking treatment.  Journal of General Internal Medicine.  2007 Aug;22(8):1125-31.

Ganz, PA, Farmer MM, Belman M, et al.  "Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Managed Care Health Plan.  Cancer.  2005 Nov 15;104(10):2072-83.

Sherman SE, Farmer MM.  Best practices in tobacco control: Identifying effective strategies for improving quality with the Veterans Health Administration.  Invited paper VA in the Vanguard: Building on Success in Smoking Cessation.  2005:77-95.

Farmer MM, Ferraro KF.  Are Racial Disparities in Health Conditional on Socioeconomic Status.  Social Science & Medicine.  2005;60:191-204.

Dulai GS, Farmer MM, Ganz, PA, et al.  Primary Care Provider Perceptions of Barriers to and Facilitators of Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Managed Care Setting.  Cancer.  2004;100(9):1843-52.

Ganz PA, Farmer MM, Belman M, et al.  Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in a Managed Care Health Plan: Recruitment of Provider Organizations For a Randomized Effectiveness Trial.   Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.  2003;12(9):824-9.

Bernaards CA., Farmer MM, Qi K, Dulai GS, Ganz P and Kahn KL.  Comparison of Two Multiple Imputation Procedures in a Cancer Screening Survey.  Journal of Data Science.  2003;1(3):293-312.

Reifel JL, Kahn KL, Dulai GS, Farmer MM, Rideout J, Payne Simon L, Ganz PA.  Organizational Systems Used by California Capitated Medical Groups and Independent Practice Associations to Increase Cancer Screening."  Cancer.  2000;88:2824-2831.

Farmer MM, Ferraro KF.  Distress and Perceived Health:  Mechanisms of Health Decline.  Journal of Health and Social Behavior.  1997;39:298-311.

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