Pilot Studies

 

Developmental studies support exploratory, pilot studies of a novel systems alignment approach. Developmental studies are awarded to researchers who have not previously completed a pilot study to examine the feasibility of implementing the approach and the feasibility of related research strategies of their systems alignment strategy. After completing a successful pilot study under this award category, applicants should be well positioned to pursue subsequent studies of the impact of their proposed system alignment strategy. Developmental studies receive up to $100,000 in total funding to be used over a 12-month period.


 

  • The ASSET Study: Aligning Systems for Safety and EquiTy

    This study will assess the feasibility of implementing a community co-designed initiative that integrates health, social, public safety, and justice services under a single local government umbrella agency. The initiative focuses on improving the health, safety, and wellbeing of communities harmed by systemic racism and to reduce involvement in the criminal legal system.
  • Participatory Budgeting for Health Equity: A Unified, Multisectoral Approach

    This study will assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential impact of participatory budgeting (PB) as a mode of civic engagement to improve health outcomes and advance equity for racially and ethnically marginalized communities, using “The People’s Money” initiative as the first city-wide test of a participatory budgeting intervention for New York City. The intervention allows community residents to decide how to spend allocated Mayoral funds on projects to address prioritized needs within communities.
  • Colibri Child Wellness Program Early Childhood Systems Alignment Initiative

    This study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention designed to align medical, public health, and social service systems to support integrated, culturally responsive early childhood care for Latino and farmworker families residing in California’s northern coast in order to prevent and manage early childhood developmental delays and disabilities. The intervention is designed to disrupt systemic racism in early childhood systems that limits access to care for minority communities—including language inaccessibility, fragmented referrals, disinvestment in clinical infrastructure, and institutional distrust—by redesigning access points around trusted community infrastructure.
  • ACCESS: Aligning Community Care through Embedded School-Based Systems

    This study will pilot test a school-embedded Point-of-Service (POS) coordination system designed to align medical care, public health, and social service systems for children and families in the historically Black Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The intervention seeks to dismantle systemic racism that manifests as fragmented systems with administrative burdens that routinely delay or deny care for Black families.
  • Bridging the Gap: Technology-Supported Peer Connections to Reduce Overdose Fatalities

    This study pilot tests a novel community-embedded, technology-supported overdose response intervention that aligns medical care, public health, and social service systems to improve outcomes for persons following the experience of an overdose among people living in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, CA. The intervention proposes to dismantle the structural racism that channels marginalized communities into overburdened low-resource medical systems with limited capacity to address underlying health and social needs, and that excludes these communities from having a voice in how these systems operate.
  • Research to Understand Systemic Racism as a Barrier and Engagement with Child Mental Health Services

    Building off of the Aligning Delivery and Financing Systems to Prevent Adverse Child Experiences in St. Louis study, Washington University in St. Louis will study the impact of systemic racism on child mental healthcare and mental health equity. African-American families are disproportionately affected by barriers to preventative services leading to worsening socio-emotional, mental health, and physical health outcomes. This is especially true in St. Louis, Missouri, where a profound history of oppression, systemic racism, and mistrust have exacerbated mental health challenges.