Behavioral Health
Access to quality behavioral health services improves outcomes for families and children. Vulnerable groups often do not receive the behavioral healthcare they need. PolicyLab aims to increase families’ access to quality behavioral healthcare services through research and interventions.
Child Health Insurance
Participation in health insurance programs leads to positive child health outcomes. However, children eligible for health insurance do not benefit equally. PolicyLab's research explores ways of reducing disparities and increasing retention in children's health insurance programs.
Child Welfare
Quality services for children involved in the child welfare system are crucial to positive outcomes. In 2007, an estimated 794,000 children were victims of maltreatment, and nearly two-thirds of them received welfare services. These children face disproportionate risks of health and behavioral problems and high rates of homelessness, school drop-out, and incarceration. PolicyLab's work seeks to improve the systems serving families in child welfare and ultimately increase the stability, permanency, and well-being of the children using them.
Complex Chronic Conditions
For children and young adults living with complex chronic conditions, medical advances continue to reduce the risk of illness and death. However, these advances also create new challenges for parents caring for these children. PolicyLab's research aims to better understand and address the unique needs of families living with children with chronic conditions.
Family Health Literacy
Twenty percent of American adults have inadequate health literacy, defined as “the ability to understand heath-related materials, such as prescriptions, appointment cards, medicine labels, and directions for home health care.“ Children whose caregivers have low health literacy are at greater risk of having poor health outcomes. PolicyLab’s research examines the connection between health literacy and child outcomes.
Health Services
Providing quality, efficient, and accessible healthcare is an ongoing challenge in the United States. PolicyLab's research examines local, state, and federal health systems to inform policy and practice changes aimed at improving the health and well-being of the nation’s children.
Family & Parenting Supports
A parent’s caregiving style is critical to a child's health and well-being. Today’s parents do not receive the support they need to meet the developmental and emotional needs of their children. PolicyLab research is piloting numerous community-based prevention and treatment interventions to improve understanding of how effective parenting support can improve child outcomes.
STI & Pregnancy Education & Prevention
Effective interventions aimed at reducing unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents will likely have a major impact on public health. Disproportionately high rates of STIs among young adults and adolescents and a rising teenage birth rate have resulted in significant social and economic burdens. PolicyLab’s research and intervention work seeks to improve adolescent STI and pregnancy prevention by focusing on the use of non-primary care sites as intervention locations.
Tailored Pediatric Preventive Care
Children and families need pediatric preventive care tailored to their particular needs. The current one-size-fits-all approach does not go far enough to meet the needs of at-risk children and families. PolicyLab’s research aims to develop tools and practices that promote individualized preventive care, especially for at-risk families.
