Technical Assistance and Direction for RWJF's National Program for Systems and Services Research

Identifying Information Project Title: Technical Assistance and Direction for RWJF’s National Program for Systems and Services Research Application I.D.: 35073 Applicant Name: Glen P. Mays, Anna Goodman Hoover Legal Name of Applicant Organization: University of Kentucky Research Foundation Draft project narrative for SSR TAD Problem Statement: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s investments in the field of Public Health Services & Systems Research (PHSSR) have fueled the production and application of evidence about how to organize, finance, and deliver high-value public health strategies across the U.S. As RWJF pursues a new strategic vision focused on building a culture of health, sound scientific evidence is needed to elucidate how to achieve this vision through a broader constellation of institutions, services and delivery systems that shape health and wellbeing in American communities, including but not limited to the public health sector. Research is needed on how best to align the delivery and financing systems for public health, medical care, and social services so as to promote community wellbeing and resiliency, realize efficiencies in resource use, and reduce inequities in population health. The National Coordinating Center for PHSSR at the University of Kentucky worked with RWJF and a diverse group of scientific, policy, and operational stakeholders to develop a new program of applied research focusing on these larger questions about systems and services alignment: using systems and services research (SSR) to build a culture of health. Project Components: As a result of the planning grant for SSR, a research agenda has been developed that will guide the direction of SSR research. Work to be performed under this Technical Assistance and Direction Proposal will include: (1) the development of a framework and operational strategy for organizing, implementing, and translating SSR studies through a limited number of SSR Research Hubs across the U.S.; (2) the development and implementation of a request-for-proposals (RFP) to identify, select and support SSR research hubs; and (3) the design and development of a call-for-proposals (CFP) process to solicit, select, and support investigator-initiated SSR research projects on high-priority topics through the SSR hubs and a national coordinating center. A National Advisory Council will be convened that will include at least 10 members external to RWJF and the Center who bring scientific, policy and/or operational expertise relevant to delivery and financing systems for health and social services and their influence on population health. Consulting with RWJF’s Research, Evaluation and Learning (REL) team, we will identify and recruit NAC members who bring expertise relevant to key social systems and service delivery sectors that are integral to RWJF’s Culture of Health “Action Model,” including: public health, medical care, education and training, housing, transportation, human services, economic development and finance, and criminal justice. We anticipate giving special emphasis to NAC members with expertise in cross-cutting and interdisciplinary research areas relevant to the action model, including: systems science and network behavior; social capital and community resilience; health and behavioral economics; governance and collective action mechanisms; social and environmental determinants of health; and health equity