Overview

New research from Systems for Action investigators at Johns Hopkins University analyzed state government expenditure data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate U.S. public health spending and found that the official government estimate (Public Health Activity Estimate) is an overestimation of how much is spent on public health. This heightens concerns about spending priorities: the U.S. spends far more on individual medical care than public health programs.

The results of this S4A study can inform decision-making about investments in public health to support COVID-19 response and recovery. Read the one-page report for more key findings and recommended action.

The Delaware Culture of Health Project aimed to increase healthcare access for the probation population by aligning health and social service systems. 

Key elements of the intervention included:

• a health navigator in the probation office to screen and refer probationers
• a cross-system “change team” to connect and empower multiple agencies
• an informational resource guide with health-related information
• a monetary incentive

Read how these strategies were associated with an increase in the proportion of individuals accessing care through a primary care physician. The brief reviews what solution was tested, the research findings and recommendations for action based on this evidence.

Details

Project: Implementing a Culture of Health among Delaware's Probation Population
Resource: Download
Date: 08/24/2020

Overview

This Health Affairs blog post summarizes results from a study investigating the impact of Community Care Connections (CCC), a community-based aging services provider located in Rochester, New York, which aims to integrate social services into medical systems of care to meet the aims of improved patient experience, better patient health, and lower health care costs.

Click here to read the full text:

“Working Across Sectors To Improve Health For Older People: The Community Care Connections Program, " Health Affairs Blog, January 30, 2020. DOI: 10.1377/hblog20200129.627279

The July 2018 policy brief “Trauma-Informed Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: A Randomized Controlled Trial with a Two-Generation Impact” examines the effectiveness of trauma-informed peer support with financial programming on improving physical, mental, emotional and financial outcomes. The full brief on the Center for Hunger-Free Communities website can be viewed here. 

The Building Wealth and Health Network is an opportunity for parents and caregivers of young children to increase their income and savings, improve health and wellbeing, shape their own futures, and to do so in a community of their peers. The Network does this through three main components: Financial Self Empowerment Classes, Matched Savings Accounts, and Surveys.

Post-program outcomes indicate positive impacts on food security, self-rated health, depression, employment, and savings account participation.

This brief describes the methodology for defining Comprehensive Public Health Delivery Systems using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems. The systems meeting this definition have been shown to deliver a broader range of recommended public health services, using fewer resources, than the more prevalent types of U.S. public health systems that do not meet this definition. Over time, comprehensive systems are associated with larger gains in population health status than are their counterparts.

Overview

A report published in 2016 in the IBM Center for The Business of Government entitled, "Effective Leadership in Network Collaboration: Lessons Learned from Continuum of Care Homeless Programs (Related Publication)," examines network collaboration in the context of Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless programs. Read the report in full by clicking here.

Overview

An article published in Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research entitled, "The Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Homeless Policy Networks: A Research Note (Related Publication)" investigates the role and importance of nonprofit organizations in coordinating efforts in local homeless networks when implementing federal homeless policies across the United State. Read the article in full by clicking here.

Overview

An article published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine in 2015 entitled, "Local Fiscal Allocation for Public Health Departments," examines local investment in public health by measuring the percentage of local government taxes allocated to local health departments. Read the article in full by clicking here. 

DISCLAIMER: The authors received financial support from the University of Arizona and JP Leider Research & Consulting, LLC supporting this work. The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review. While this publication was funded by other sources, it is shared on this website because the findings are related to their grant funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered by the Systems for Action National Signature Research Program.