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.

 

  • Achieving Reach in Youth Behavioral Health and Wellness through Catchment-Area Community Governance

    This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the feasibility of the Youth Wellness Hub as a hyper-local community governance model for integrating delivery and financing systems for youth behavioral health and wellness services. The Youth Wellness Hub combines three social policy tools that are separately promising or well-supported in the research literature: community governance; public health education campaigns; and service network coordination through fiscal blending.

  • Systems Alignment to Optimize Health Services for Youth Experiencing Homelessness

    This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, tests the feasibility of an integrated system of medical, social and public health programming designed to improve outcomes for youth experiencing homelessness in Hennepin County, Minnesota. The study organizes community-engaged consensus building sessions with stakeholders from medical, social and public health systems and with youth experiencing homelessness in order to co-create strategies for system alignment, including multi-sector data integration, shared clinical practice guidelines, and co-location of health and social services for youth experiencing homelessness.

  • FAAITH (Faith-leaders Allied and Aligned to Institute Trust in the Home) and HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) for Equitable Systems Alignment

    This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the feasibility of a modified Church-based home visiting program that aims to align health and social services for households with young children and dismantle forms of structural racism faced by these households. The program to be modified and tested is delivered by Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton New Jersey, a predominantly Black congregation, with the goal of reducing adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and promoting positive childhood experiences within historically marginalized families and communities.

  • Research to Understand Systems of Housing (RUSH): Feasibility and Acceptability of Aligning Systems for Fathers

    This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the feasibility of a multi-sector “Functional Zero” approach to reducing homelessness among fathers in Atlanta, with a focus on Black fathers who are disproportionately represented among homeless populations. The study builds from an existing multi-sector coalition of leaders from medical, social and public health sectors who have formed Fathers Matter ATL to address the unmet health and social needs of homeless fathers, including forms of structural racism that limit the availability of housing options for homeless men with dependent children.

  • Tribal Care Coordination Dashboard Project: Coeur Adolescent Support Team (CAST) Referrals

    This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, tests the feasibility of a multi-sector tribally-operated data system and dashboard for documenting health and social service needs and service referrals among youth members of the Coeur d-Alene tribe. The integrated data system is designed to achieve data sovereignty and improve timeliness and coordination in the delivery of health and social services for the tribal youth population, thereby dismantling forms of structural racism and inequity created by reliance on fragmented non-tribal service delivery and financing systems.