Health Policy Training Program: Promoting Outcomes, Quality, Equity and Diffusion of Advances
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Project Summary We are applying for support to continue the Harvard Training Program in Mental Health Policy. This Program, embedded in Harvard’s Interfaculty Ph.D. Program in Health Policy, aims to provide trainees a broad array of skills and knowledge necessary to produce research that informs mental health policy-making in the U.S., as well as to inspire pre- and post-doctoral scholars to devote their careers to the study of mental health policy. The Training Program in Mental Health Policy has three fundamental aims: 1) To offer pre-doctoral trainees strong disciplinary-based training for application to the broad area of health policy. The disciplinary areas of concentration within the Ph.D. Program in Health Policy cover the range of skills necessary for effective policy analysis: a) decision science, b) economics, c) management, d) methods for policy research, and e) political analysis. 2) To provide pre-doctoral trainees with formal and informal experiences that will prepare them to incorporate into their research the features of mental illnesses, the institutional context within which mental health services are delivered, and the nature of public policy decision-making in the mental health arena. 3) To provide post-doctoral trainees with mentoring and research experiences in areas relevant to mental health policy and that augment their disciplinary training (either as social scientists or clinicians). In particular, we aim to match each post-doctoral fellow with research experiences that offer an in-depth exposure to mental health care institutions, clinical circumstances, public policy structures, and social science research methods to round out their research skills. Graduates of the Training Program in Mental Health Policy are pursuing a variety of careers in research, policy analysis, and teaching related to mental health policy. Thus far, the Training Program has produced 45 new Ph.D. graduates pursuing research careers related to mental health policy (with 10 others currently in training, including 3 who will graduate in May 2023). Twenty-four post-doctoral fellows have completed the Training Program (with two others currently in training) and are currently engaged in mental health policy-related careers. Former pre- and post-doctoral trainees are employed in major research universities, teaching hospitals, government, and private research organizations. Our former trainees have gone on to successfully compete for NIH research funds (15 K awards and multiple R01 and U awards as PI or co-PI). Research conducted by program trainees and their mentors have made important contributions to the mental health policy evidence base and to policy debates for over 25 years.
