Mathematica is committed to advancing public health by applying our expertise across disciplines that constitute some of the most critical areas of public health today. The following focus areas highlight how we’re working to progress together to improve public well-being.
APHA Public Health Film Festival: Helping Families Affected by Substance Use
The APHA selected a short film that Mathematica produced with support from the Administration for Children and Families to show at the APHA Public Health Film Festival. The film focuses on how the Regional Partnership Grant program improves the safety, permanency, and well-being of children affected by parent’s substance use disorders. Starting October 19, registered APHA Annual Meeting attendees can watch the film on demand. Registered attendees can also submit questions to Debra Strong a senior researcher for the Regional Partnership Grant National Cross-Site Evaluation, using a discussion board that will be available with the film. Please visit APHA’s page about public health films focusing on substance use and addiction treatment for more information.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
What does it take for organizations to progress together? It takes a common purpose, shared values, a complementary array of resources and capabilities, and a mutual desire to learn from and with each other. Our ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion journey is driving necessary changes in who we are; how we relate to each other, our partners, and our communities; and how we approach our work.
Policymakers and practitioners are increasingly interested in social determinants of health—the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age—to address upstream social risks, such as food insecurity and lack of affordable housing, that, in turn, improve health care outcomes. Mathematica data and policy experts recently produced a series of blog posts and research on how different stakeholders can improve and leverage data on social determinants of health to maximize the health and well-being of children and adults in the United States.
Responding to the current public health crisis and illuminating the path forward to safely re-open businesses, schools, workplaces, and community services requires a seasoned partner with trusted solutions. Built on our foundation of rigorous data and evidence, Mathematica’s scalable services provide state and local agencies, as well as private-sector employers, with the confidence and clarity they need to take on the complex challenges of COVID-19. Some of our services include contact tracing, workforce planning, modeling and forecasting, and wastewater testing and analysis.
Data Analytics and Survey Expertise
At Mathematica, we apply our expertise at the intersection of data science and social science to produce efficient, high quality, and action-oriented analysis that advances your mission.
Using advanced technologies, reusable and scalable platforms, and high-performance secure cloud infrastructure, we enable our partners to target areas of opportunity and make the most of their data. We collect the data you need, manage data as a secure asset, analyze to surface insights, and place this knowledge in the hands of those who need it most.
Mental Health and Substance Use
Mathematica understands the pressing challenges faced by our partners working to improve the delivery system, innovative value-based service models, and financing strategies that states and payers are testing—strategies that could improve the prevention and treatment of behavioral health conditions. We’re leading efforts to address the opioid crisis, increase access to care while controlling costs, and support the integration of behavioral health services with other health care and social services.
Our staff have in-depth knowledge of the complex array of intersecting public and private programs and eligibility requirements that create challenges for consumers to get the help they need. Our work involves evaluating a wide range of behavioral health service delivery and payment models, helping partners establish programs that implement new services and policies and fill data gaps, fielding large-scale behavioral health surveys, developing and implementing behavioral health quality measures, and analyzing policy to guide decision making. For more than two decades, we’ve conducted national surveys of every known mental health and substance use disorder treatment facility in the country. Our analyses of T-MSIS data for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provide critical information on patterns of substance use disorders and treatment across states as evidenced by the T-MSIS Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Data Book and a series of supporting data quality briefs.