Letter from the Editor
RAND Health Quarterly, 2012; 2 (1): editor
RAND Health Quarterly is an online-only journal dedicated to showcasing the breadth of health research and policy analysis conducted RAND-wide.
More in this issueThe articles in this issue of RAND Health Quarterly cover an exciting range of topics, highlighting a series of studies from RAND Europe focusing on the United Kingdom.
One of these studies explores the characteristics of research papers that are cited in clinical guidelines for dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A second article, also focused on clinical care, presents the results of a two-year evaluation of an integrated care pilot program designed to provide users with a greater sense of continuity of care, provide more preventive care, and reduce the amount of care provided unnecessarily in hospital settings. The third article in this series presents results from a scoping review to assess the evidence for using emergency readmissions within 28 days of discharge as an outcome indicator.
Additional studies examine health care leadership within the United Kingdom. One presents National Health Services (NHS) leaders’ views of priorities and approaches regarding sustainable development in the NHS and highlights the critical importance of incentives that align motivations with performance measurement. In addition, one article discusses the results of an evaluation of the National Institute for Health Research Leadership programme, an initiative designed to build capacity among research leaders in the UK.
We also focus on public health in the United States. One article showcases an assessment of the impact of the California Injury and Illness Prevention Program on workplace injuries in California. Another includes an evaluation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Cities Readiness Initiative and its impact on state and community capacity to rapidly provide life-saving medications within 48 hours of a large-scale bioterrorist attack, naturally occurring disease outbreak, or other public health emergency. A third focuses on strategies for increasing rates of adult vaccination in the United States.
Edward Okeke, M.D., Ph.D., guest editor
Robin M. Weinick, Ph.D., editor
