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Community Health and Well-Being

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Essay
Mental Health First Aid: Training People to Help Others
An innovative program trains and empowers people to not look away from those experiencing mental illness, but to listen to them, reassure them, and encourage them to get help. Most trainees of the program in New York City were still using what they had learned five years later.
May 3, 2023
Multimedia
What Does Environmental Justice Look Like?
Videos describe the impact of grassroots environmental justice campaigns in two redlined neighborhoods. This work features RAND research that shows how a shared community vision can help residents, organizers, and policymakers understand the root causes of injustices and identify actionable responses.
Apr 19, 2023

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Report
Evaluation of Los Angeles County's 2023 Mental Health Campaigns: Identifying the Reach and Impact of the Take Action for Mental Health Los Angeles County and Do Worthwhile Work Campaigns
This report describes the evaluation of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s 2023 mental health prevention and early intervention and mental health workforce campaigns.
Nov 30, 2023
Periodical
RAND Review: November-December 2023
Features explore the use of psychedelics to address depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders among veterans, and the prevalence of food insecurity among active-duty military families and veterans.
Nov 9, 2023
Essay
Why Are U.S. Military Families Experiencing Food Insecurity?
Around a quarter of active-duty service members qualify as “food insecure.” But what's causing that, how to fix it—even what it means—is not clear. Food insecurity is a multifaceted problem that needs multifaceted solutions.
Nov 6, 2023
Journal Article
Think Global, Act Local: Using a Translocal Approach to Understand Community-Based Organisations' Responses to Planetary Health Crises During COVID-19
We used a translocal learning approach to co-develop insights on community-based responses to complex health and environmental and economic crises.
Oct 12, 2023
Blog
Escalation in Ukraine, a Trilateral Imperialist Threat, Disaster Recovery: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the risk of escalation in Ukraine, the growing threat of a North-Korea-Russia-China partnership, the economics of disaster recovery, and more.
Sep 22, 2023
Report
Food Insecurity Among Veterans
Veterans experiencing food insecurity are less likely than nonveterans to be enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. What factors affect this? And how might policymakers address the problem?
Sep 20, 2023
Research Brief
Reducing Policy Barriers to SNAP Participation by Food-Insecure Veterans
Food-insecure veterans are consistently less likely than their nonveteran peers to be enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but there are opportunities to improve policies and boost veterans’ program participation.
Sep 20, 2023
Journal Article
The Co-Management of HIV and Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in the Dominican Republic: A Qualitative Study
We conducted in-depth interviews to explore co-management of HIV and non-communicable disease among people in the Dominican Republic. Key factors included patient-provider relationships, referrals, specialist accessibility, and financial assistance.
Aug 10, 2023
Report
Soldier and Family Readiness Groups: Considerations for Implementation
The authors found that awareness of new U.S. Army Soldier and Family Readiness Group (SFRG) policy is not widespread among Army spouses, and aspects of the program could be improved. However, findings also suggest that SFRGs can be effective.
Jul 10, 2023
Project
Evaluation of California's Statewide Mental Health Prevention and Early Intervention Initiatives
The RAND Corporation is evaluating California's statewide prevention and early intervention programs, which aim to reduce negative outcomes for people experiencing mental illness.
Jun 13, 2023
Journal Article
What Is Associated with Changes in Food Security Among Low-Income Residents of a Former Food Desert?
We compared study participants in a former food desert neighborhood whose food security improved to those whose food security did not improve across survey waves. Distance to major food shopping store was positively associated with food security.
May 16, 2023
Blog
Ukraine's Recovery, Mental Health First Aid, School Staffing: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the trade-offs of Ukraine's reconstruction, the effects of a Mental Health First Aid training program, school staffing challenges, and more.
May 5, 2023
Blog
Environmental Justice, Mental Health Care, Insomnia: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on environmental justice, access to mental health care, why America should stick with Europe. and more.
Apr 21, 2023
Multimedia
What Does Environmental Justice Look Like? Two Case Studies
The RAND Corporation has partnered with community organizations and activists in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and San Diego, California to show how community engagement can contribute to environmental justice for residents affected by neighborhood disinvestment.
Apr 19, 2023
Report
The Benefits of Mental Health First Aid Training
More than 155,000 New Yorkers were trained in Mental Health First Aid between 2016 and 2020. They learned how to be active listeners, to provide reassurance and information, and to encourage professional care when appropriate. Most of the trainees ended up using their MHFA skills to support others and their own well-being.
Feb 7, 2023
Research Brief
Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016–2020 Efforts
In an evaluation of a city-wide effort to train New Yorkers in Mental Health First Aid, RAND researchers found that the majority of participants had used their skills to help friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers in the past six months.
Feb 7, 2023
Journal Article
Modifying Text Messages from a Faith-Based Physical Activity Intervention with Latino Adults in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The purpose of this article is to describe how we developed and implemented a physical activity text messaging component within a faith-based intervention.
Feb 3, 2023
Commentary
Research Shows How Communities Are Prioritizing Health Equity
In partnership with RAND, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is tracking how communities are evolving their approaches to building a Culture of Health and advancing health equity. The research offers insights on how and why inequities develop, and more importantly, how communities change course and move towards health equity.
Feb 1, 2023
News Release
Unhoused Population Increased by 18 Percent in Three High-Priority Neighborhoods in Los Angeles
A year-long count of unhoused people in three hot-spot neighborhoods in Los Angeles found that their numbers rose by an average of 18 percent over the period, despite periodic encampment cleanups and other efforts to address the problem.
Jan 26, 2023

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RAND Topic:
Community Health and Well-Being

Topic Synonyms:
Neighborhood Health

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Lilian Perez

Associate Policy Researcher

Lilian Perez is an associate policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research is focused on the multilevel determinants (e.g., individual, social, environmental, and policy) of health and health behaviors among communities that have…
Stacey Yi

Ph.D. Candidate, Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Stacey Yi (she/her) is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a Ph.D. candidate in the Community-Partnered Policy and Action stream at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She has an M.P.H. in health management from the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University and a B.A. in…

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