We propose to train six faculty scholars in mental health services research, i.e., research on the structure of mental health delivery systems and on the effects of alternative means of financing and organizing care on costs, utilization, quality and outcomes of care. The proposed program, based at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, will provide stipends, formal training, and research experience for up to 5 years for junior to mid-level faculty from institutions with little or no ongoing mental health services research. In addition, the program will help build up research capabilities and funding within the scholars' home institutions. Our program focuses on three substantive program areas: the quality and effectiveness of mental health care; services for the seriously mentally ill; and child mental health services. Across these areas, we emphasize research on ethnic minority populations. Our recruitment effort has a special emphasis on ethnic minority psychiatrists. The faculty scholars will participate in an existing 2-year formal curriculum in health services research through the UCLA Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program and the School of Public Health and selective seminars in the three emphasized program areas. Scholars will participate in ongoing mental health services research projects at UCLA and the RAND Corporation under the supervision of experienced faculty mentors and consultants and design and implement an original mental health services research project. The proposed program faculty mentors are highly experienced in health services research and include psychiatrists, internists, pediatricians, economists, psychologists, sociologists, epidemiologists, anthropologists, and statisticians. The program relates to training programs in health services research, a MHCRC for Schizophrenia, ethnic minority research Centers, and child psychiatry. The program will be evaluated annually by policy advisory and external review committees.
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