Community-Based Health Care

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Remembering Slain LA Bishop David O'Connell and His Tireless Community Work

Bishop Dave left a mark on so many lives, and, even after becoming bishop, remained close to the community he so loved. The world has lost a fearless and compassionate leader.

Kathryn Pitkin Derose

commentary

RAND Experts on Veteran Mental Health Respond to the White House Mental Health Research Priorities

The White House identified eight research priorities to better manage America's current mental health crisis. RAND researchers highlight why each area is critical for veteran mental health and how RAND is contributing to address them.

Rajeev Ramchand @RRamchand, Carrie M. Farmer @carriefarmer, et al.

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State of the Union, Mental Health First Aid, China's Spy Balloon: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on President Biden's State of the Union address, the benefits of mental health first aid training, insights on China’s spy balloon, and more.

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Investing in Social Change: Lessons Learned from Foundation-Funded Criminal Justice Research

Investing in policy-focused research can be among the ways foundations catalyze change. Impactful work may involve strong collaborations across funders, researchers, and community partners. And it may require flexibility in design and execution as well as a commitment to getting the findings into the hands of decisionmakers who can use the findings to create change.

Stephanie Brooks Holliday

blog

A Message from Our President, Medical Mistrust, Insulin Prices: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Wednesday’s siege on the U.S. Capitol, Americans' psychological distress, medical mistrust and COVID-19 vaccines, and more.

q&a

Medical Mistrust Could Reduce Vaccine Uptake: Q&A with Laura Bogart

Laura Bogart, a senior behavioral scientist, studies how discrimination feeds medical mistrust and conspiracy beliefs. Her research on how mistrust became a barrier to treatment for Black Americans during the HIV epidemic sheds light on why some might question the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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What Telemedicine Needs to Succeed Beyond COVID-19

Virtual doctor visits have become part of the new normal. Since the first COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, Medicare and other payers have relaxed their rules to make it easier for patients to connect to care. But without permanent policy changes, physicians may not continue telemedicine services.

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Supportive Housing Can Help Keep People with Mental Illness Out of Jail

Hundreds of thousands of people with serious mental illnesses cycle in and out of American jails every year. In Los Angeles, some of them are getting diverted into a supportive housing program where they can get the treatment they need. And the results are promising.

essay

A Novel Approach to Helping People Returning from Prison

Many services try to address the needs of individuals returning from prison, but they're often designed without much input from the very people who need the services. A group of county agencies, service providers, and former prisoners collaborated to identify ways to improve reentry services in Los Angeles.

blog

Border Wall, Student Suspension, Syria: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on what a border wall can accomplish, reducing student suspensions, confusion over the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, and more.

essay

Faith-Based Organizations Promote Well-Being in Underserved Communities

Kathryn Derose, a senior policy researcher at RAND and an Episcopal deacon, works with Latino and African-American churches to address health issues in their communities. Her research has shown the power of the pulpit to fight health disparities, counter stigma, and encourage healthy living.

commentary

Is Los Angeles County Successfully Creating a Youth Movement Around Mental Health Issues?

A new community engagement campaign called WhyWeRise seeks to increase awareness of mental health access as a civil rights issue and increase civic engagement. The campaign reached its target audience—people aged 14 to 24—and showed signs of changing attitudes toward mental illness.

Rebecca L. Collins

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Doing More with Less: Lessons from Cuba's Health Care System

High U.S. health care costs do not yield corresponding health outcomes for its citizens. But Cuba, for less than a tenth of U.S. costs, has attained comparable outcomes on many indicators, such as life expectancy and infant mortality. Cuba prioritizes primary care and prevention and addresses social determinants of health.

Claire E. O'Hanlon, Melody Harvey

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Anti-Drug Education: Time for a New Bumper Sticker

Effective drug prevention in America could start by helping school districts adopt programs that work. These evidence-based programs can teach children to make wise and responsible decisions about drugs, and they won't break the bank.

Matthew Chinman

announcement

Community Partners in Care Receives Accolade

Community Partners in Care, a partnership that uses a unique approach to improve depression care in under-resourced communities, has received the 2015 Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award.

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Faith-Based Organizations as Force Multipliers

Faith-based organizations are an important community-based resource for veterans who are adjusting to civilian life. What current and potential roles can they play in reintegration?

Laura Werber

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U.S. Needs to Improve Community-Based Drug, Alcohol Prevention

As familiar as Americans are with the problems of youth drug and alcohol abuse, we are not identifying all the potential solutions. While observers criticize overemphasis in U.S. policy on enforcement and scant resources devoted to treatment, the focus on these approaches often ignores a key piece of the puzzle: prevention.

Matthew Chinman, Joie D. Acosta, et al.

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Support for Implementing Home Visiting Under the Affordable Care Act

One groundbreaking provision of the Affordable Care Act is its funding for home visiting programs that match the parents of young children with trained specialists who provide information, social support, parental skill instruction, and more.

Teryn Mattox, Sarah B. Hunter, et al.

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Using the Power of Communities to Beat Depression

Under-resourced communities of color have limited access to programs that could improve recognition and treatment of depression. RAND and UCLA investigators applied an engagement model to determine how to better serve these communities.

Kenneth B. Wells, Loretta Jones

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Getting To Outcomes: Improvement of Prevention Capacity Unveiled at a Summit of Maine Officials and Stakeholders

Community-based practitioners can improve their programs using Getting To Outcomes®, a toolkit, training, and onsite-support package which enhances their ability to prevent drug and alcohol use among youth.

Matthew Chinman, Joie D. Acosta, et al.

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'Implementation Science' May Help Providers Adopt New Treatments Despite Real-World Constraints

A new field called implementation science addresses the issue of how to best support providers to take up new, research-proven treatments and implement them well. A RAND study will test how well Boys & Girls Clubs carry out a program proven to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, with and without an intervention called Getting To Outcomes.

Matthew Chinman, Joie D. Acosta, et al.

commentary

Shifting the Burden of Mental Health Care: Helping Families

In our national conversation on mental health, we should remember the role of families when thinking about treatment and ensure that our policies open up opportunities to support parents, siblings and relatives, and enhance their capacity for care, writes Ramya Chari.

Ramya Chari