The following are among the many honors received recently by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows, grantees and alumni.

The Chicago Parenting Program, an innovative program that supports healthy parenting and reduces behavioral problems among children, was recently added to the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. RWJF Executive Nurse Fellow alumna Deborah Gross, DNSc, RN, FAAN, was a driving force behind the program, which is used by Head Start centers in Chicago and New York City, among others.  RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar Susan Breitenstein, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, and Executive Nurse Fellow alumna Sharon Tucker, PhD, RN, joined with Gross and others to conduct a study on the program, published in Research in Nursing & Health. It was recently named the journal’s Best Research Article award for 2012.

David Kindig, MD, PhD, RWJF Health & Society Scholars program director at the University of Wisconsin, and Health & Society Scholars program National Advisory Committee (NAC) member George Isham, MD, MS, co-chaired the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Population Health Improvement, which is exploring factors beyond medical care that affect people's health. Among other participants in the Roundtable: RWJF Senior Program Officer Pamela Russo, MD, MPH, and Health & Society Scholars NAC Member James Knickman, PhD.

RWJF Health Policy Fellows alumna Carmen R. Green, MD, was appointed the University of Michigan Health System’s inaugural Associate Vice President and Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusion. In the position, Green will find and address inequalities in care, education and research, and promote health care careers to those from groups that are underrepresented in the field.

Sylvia Garcia, JD, a member of the RWJF Community Health Leaders program NAC, was elected to the Texas State Senate (District 6) in a run-off election to fill the seat previously held by the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, RWJF senior adviser for nursing, spoke this month at the Oregon Center for Nursing conference on the future of nursing leadership, according to The Lund Report. “We need to be keeping more data, recording our expertise and speaking up for ourselves so when people say quality of care, they will also say, quality of nursing,” she said.

Alicia I. Arbaje, MD, MPH, an alumna of the RWJF Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program and the RWJF Clinical Scholars program, was a guest on NBC Nightly News discussing the need for older adults to live in “dynamic environments” like college towns, where they can stay physically active and socially engaged. See the clips here and here.

A white paper co-authored by RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research recipient Kathleen Sutcliffe, PhD, “breaks down the behaviors of managers who are the best at anticipating, containing, and repairing catastrophes,” Business Insider reports. Among those behaviors: they overcome cognitive biases and update their beliefs, and they don't ignore small problems until they snowball into larger ones.

Science Magazine reports on research by RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research alumnus Rashawn Ray, PhD, that finds women of color often encounter an unwelcoming environment in graduate school, and have a particularly hard time finding primary mentors who share their experiences and can provide guidance.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

RWJF Clinical Scholars program alumnus Arthur Kellerman, MD, MPH, FACEP, was quoted in a Washington Post story on the Obama Administration's push to renew federal funding for public health research on gun violence. Language initially included in a 1996 appropriations bill has, he said, "virtually stopped good public health science on [gun research] for the last 10 to 15 years.” White House lawyers recently concluded that the law doesn’t prohibit such research. Kellermann, also an alumnus of the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program, co-authored an article on the subject in the Journal of the American Medical Association with Clinical Scholars alumnus Frederick Rivara, MD, MPH.

RWJF Health & Society Scholars Program Director and Health Policy Fellows alumna Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, was also in the news discussing gun violence. Boufford wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Idaho Statesman and Long Island, New York's Newsday, about the public health effects of gun violence. “As a society, we address public health threats by identifying the root causes, reducing exposure, and instituting protective measures…  In the same way, we must protect Americans from irresponsible gun use,” she writes.

A study by RWJF Investigator Awards in Health Policy Research recipients Jason Schnittker, PhD, and Chris Uggen, PhD, finds that incarceration increases the risk of mood disorders such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and dysthymia after release. That, in turn, is strongly related to disability and increased incidence of substance abuse and impulse control disorders. United Press International, Medical Xpress and Science Day are among the outlets to report on the findings. Read an RWJF Human Capital Blog post about the study.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, Nurse.com recognized RWJF Senior Adviser for Nursing Susan B. Hassmiller, RN, PhD, FAAN, as a “pillar” of the New York/New Jersey nursing community. Hassmiller serves as director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. Nurse.com also honored Beverly L. Malone, RN, PhD, FAAN, a member of the RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars National Advisory Committee and CEO of the National League for Nursing––one of the organizations leading RWJF’s Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program.

The New York Times reports on a new analysis by the RAND Corporation, co-authored by Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, an alumnus of the RWJF Clinical Scholars program and the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program. The analysis finds that “the conversion to electronic health records has failed so far to produce the hoped-for savings in health care costs and has had mixed results, at best, in improving efficiency and patient care.” The article also quotes RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research recipient David Blumenthal, MD, MPP. Read a post Kellermann wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog about health care spending.

Investigator Award recipient and RWJF Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar program alumnus Peter Ubel, MD, wrote an article for Forbes about a study he co-authored with RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research alumnus Brendan Nyhan, PhD, and Jason Reifler, PhD, that finds the “death panel” myth––that the government would decide who was “worthy of health care” under the Affordable Care Act––has persisted, and may even grow with time. The Washington Post Wonk Blog also reported on the study. Read a post Ubel wrote for the RWJF Human Capital Blog.

Liana Orsolini-Hain, PhD, RN, ANEF,FAAN, is an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows program (20112012), through which she worked at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Immediate Office of the Secretary. This post is part of the "Health Care in 2013" series.

My New Year’s resolution for the U.S. health system involves all of us. During my tenure as an RWJF Health Policy Fellow in the Immediate Office of the Secretary of Health, I learned how a small percentage of Americans use up a majority of health care resources.  The percentage of individuals who consume a high volume of resources will likely increase as we age, with little regard for our own level of health. 

We all need to be a part of the solution to making access to health care and access to health sustainable for current and future generations by caring about and for our own health. Do we exercise regularly? Do we get enough sleep? Do we eat fruits and vegetables every day? Have we stopped smoking? Do we manage our stress levels? Do we practice what we preach?

Carole Pratt, DDS, is an alumna of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows program, where she worked in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller (D-WV). Pratt was a practicing dentist in rural southwest Virginia for 32 years. This post is part of the "Health Care in 2013" series.

The Times Square ball has dropped, crisp new calendars have been affixed to office walls, and clean new agenda pages gape at us from computer screens, signaling prudent resolution makers that it is time to get serious about 2013. February 10 will mark another New Year, the beginning of the Chinese New Year festival ushering in the Year of the Snake. Parades will be held, people around the world will celebrate, and for a time at least, inherent fear of reptiles will be set aside.

In a century-long history that is somewhat convoluted, the American medical profession has come to be represented by the winged staff and serpent symbol, the Caduceus. So during 2013, the Year of the Snake, it may be no coincidence that things are looking up for the health care profession and the health of the nation in general. In its 2013 annual ranking, U.S. News & World Report announced the top ten most attractive jobs based on factors such as opportunity for employment, salary, work-life balance, and job security.  Six of the top ten spots were claimed by jobs in health care.

Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, holds the Paul O’Neill-Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation. He is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Clinical Scholars program and the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program. This post is part of the "Health Care in 2013" series.

For the first month of my medicine internship at the University of Washington, I was assigned to Seattle’s VA Hospital.  I was stunned to learn that my attending physician would be Paul Beeson, widely regarded at the time as one of the giants of American medicine. [i]  At an age when most doctors are enjoying their retirement, Dr. Beeson was still doing what he loved best—caring for patients and teaching.

I have forgotten most of the clinical pearls Dr. Beeson taught that month. But one that still stands out is the way he questioned the need for every lab test, x-ray and treatment my team ordered. “Why do you want that?” he’d ask.  “What will you do with the result?” Throughout the month, he urged us to forego interventions that offered little benefit to our patients, but exposed them to potential side effects or complications. His message was clear.  Do only what’s needed, not more. 

Today, we need Dr. Beeson’s message more than ever before.  In the three decades since I trained under him, America’s health care system has grown so large, it claims a bigger share of the gross domestic product than American manufacturing or wholesale and retail trade. [ii]  As a result, the federal government spends more on health care than national defense and international security assistance.  In several states, health care is crowding out spending for education. In the past decade, health care cost growth has wiped out the hard-won earnings of middle-class families. [iii]

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Human Capital Blog published more than 350 posts in 2012. On Friday, we shared five of the ten most-read posts published on this blog in 2012. Today, as we prepare to usher in a new year, we report on the top five.

Isolation in America: Does Living Alone Mean Being Alone? In this provocative piece, Eric Klinenberg, PhD, recipient of an RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research, discussed his well-reviewed book, “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.” It looks at the health problems associated with social isolation. Klinenberg calls the increase in people living alone the country’s “biggest demographic change since the baby boom.” His post attracted the biggest audience on this blog in 2012.

Supreme Court Ruling Offers a Sense of Hope. This very personal piece by Thomas Tsang, MD, FACP, an alumnus of the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program, was the second most-read post on this blog in all of 2012. Tsang reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding key elements of the Affordable Care Act from the perspective of immigrant families like his own. Tsang said he hoped the ruling would allow “the country [to] start healing together and work on finding better solutions for future generations who believe that life is indeed better here in America—as my parents and I still do.”

Legal Experts Were Completely Stunned by John Roberts’ Health Care Opinion.  This post by RWJF Investigator Mark Hall, JD, also addressed the U.S. Supreme Court’s health reform ruling.  “We all knew it would be close, but we never saw this coming,” he blogged about the Chief Justice’s vote to uphold the highly controversial individual mandate. It was the third most-read post on the RWJF Human Capital Blog in 2012.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provides grants for people and projects in the United States and U.S. territories that advance the Foundation’s mission to improve the health and health care of all Americans. The following are the current funding opportunities from RWJF’s Human Capital portfolio:

RWJF Health Policy Fellows
The RWJF Health Policy Fellows program provides the nation’s most comprehensive fellowship experience at the nexus of health science, policy and politics in Washington, D.C. It is an outstanding opportunity for exceptional midcareer health professionals and behavioral and social scientists with an interest in health and health care policy. Up to six grants will be awarded in 2013 to fellows who will participate in the policy process at the federal level and use that leadership experience to improve health, health care and health policy. Exceptional candidates from academic faculties and nonprofit health care organizations are encouraged to apply. Applicants may have backgrounds in the following disciplines: allied health professions; biomedical sciences; dentistry; economics or other social sciences; health services organization and administration; medicine; nursing; public health; social and behavioral health or health law. The deadline for applications is November 14, 2012. Learn more.

New Careers in Nursing
New Careers in Nursing, a program of RWJF and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, is a scholarship program to help alleviate the nursing shortage and increase the diversity of nursing professionals. Through grants to schools of nursing, the program will provide scholarships to college graduates without nursing degrees who are enrolled in accelerated baccalaureate and master’s nursing programs. A school of nursing may apply for between five and 30 scholarships per year to be awarded to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or who are economically disadvantaged. The deadline for applications and supporting documents is January 9, 2013. Learn more.

RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows
The RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program is a three-year advanced leadership program for nurses who aspire to lead and shape health care locally and nationally. Fellows strengthen and improve their leadership abilities related to improving health and health care. Awards are open to registered nurses who hold senior leadership positions in health services, scientific and academic organizations, public health and community-based organizations or systems, or national professional, governmental and policy organizations. Up to 20 fellowships will be awarded for the 2013 cohort. The deadline for applications is January 15, 2013. Learn more.

See all the current calls for proposals from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Arthur Kellermann, MD, MPH, FACEP, was one of several experts taking part in a recent “Intelligence Squared U.S.” debate, grappling with the pros and cons of rationing end-of-life care, NPR reports. Kellermann is both an RWJF Clinical Scholars and RWJF Health Policy Fellows alumnus, and serves on the Clinical Scholars program’s National Advisory Committee.

The Mohawk Valley Business Journal in Central New York state reports on a joint nurse-training program that will allow high school graduates to earn both associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing in four years, and sit for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s National Council Licensure Examination after three years. The program is funded by a grant from RWJF’s Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program.

Research co-led by Jennifer Wenzel, PhD, RN, an alumna of the RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars program, finds that married South Korean women with diabetes say they believe that the stress of caring for their families played a role in contracting the disease, according to a United Press International (UPI) story. The study also found that many of the women "did not make enough time to care for themselves because of their obligations to the family," UPI reports, noting that the women often had difficulty managing their disease because their husbands and children disapproved of diabetes-friendly meals.