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Mental Health
Health care reform efforts in the United States seek to ensure appropriate access to mental health care, deliver it efficiently and effectively, and allocate scarce resources wisely. RAND Health is involved in a range of studies that will help policymakers meet these challenges. Some of our current research projects are highlighted below.
Profiles of Current Research
Highlights of Recent Studies
Out of the Ivory Tower, Into the Real World: Examples of Street-Smart Community Health Research
RAND Health's community-based participatory research projects are helping to reduce the burden of chronic health problems, especially mental health problems, in poor and minority neighborhoods.
Making It Easier for School Staff to Help Traumatized Students
Promising results emerged from a small pilot test of the Support for Students Exposed to Trauma (SSET) intervention that teachers and counselors can deliver to help traumatized students. SSET is an adaptation of the Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), which is delivered by school mental health clinicians such as social workers and psychologists.
Improving Mental Health Care for Returning Veterans
Additional results from the Invisible Wounds of War project (see highlight below) identified barriers to mental health care access for military servicemembers and veterans in community settings as well as gaps in the quality of care received in these settings. A number of recommendations aim to address these issues.
Invisible Wounds: Mental Health and Cognitive Care Needs of America's Returning Veterans
Approximately 18.5 percent of U.S. service members who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq currently have posttraumatic stress disorder or depression; and 19.5 percent report ex-periencing a traumatic brain injury during deployment. This brief summarizes a comprehensive RAND study of the mental health and cognitive needs of these service members.The Societal Promise of Improving Care for Depression
A review of RAND's Partners in Care real-world trial to improve depression care shows that modest, practical quality improvement programs, as implemented by diverse managed care organizations under usual practice conditions, can decrease the personal and societal burdens of depression.
The Behavioral Health Care System Is Poised for Change
A number of behavioral health quality-improvement projects currently under way are implementing the Institute of Medicine's "quality chasm" framework for fixing the nation's health care system.
How Schools Responded to Student Mental Health Needs Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Despite strong initial efforts to support the mental health needs of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, most schools were not able to sustain their efforts.
Related Web Sites
Invisible Wounds of War Study
The BRIGHT Project (Building Recovery by Improving Goals, Habits, & Thoughts)
http://www.rand.org/health/projects/bright/
Teen Depression Awareness Project
http://www.rand.org/health/projects/tdap/
Healthcare for Communities
http://www.hsrcenter.ucla.edu/research/hcc.shtml
RAND Partners in Care
http://www.rand.org/health/projects/pic/
Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS)
Working with Congress
RAND’s Office of Congressional Relations (OCR) furthers RAND’s mission to provide objective analysis and effective solutions by disseminating research results to Congress and federal agencies. OCR publishes a monthly electronic newsletter featuring current work on health policy. The RAND Health Congressional Newsletter is found at www.rand.org/congress/newsletters.html. Contact: Shirley Ruhe (Shirley_Ruhe@rand.org).
The RAND Health Congressional Newsletter
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