Literature Collection

This report describes how innovative models to improve health and health care--developed with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)-- spread and adapted and became integrated into the U.S. health care system (and also were taken up by some other countries), all without further input or influence from the Foundation. Prescription for health: promoting healthy behaviors in primary care research networks, a $9 million RWJF national program launched in 2002, tested the use of evidence-based models and innovative tools in primary care to counsel patients to change unhealthy behaviors related to chronic disease and death.

Providing human support for users of behavioral health technology can help facilitate the necessary engagement and clinical integration of digital tools in mental health care. A team conducted digital navigator training that taught participants how to promote patrons' digital literacy, evaluate and recommend health apps, and interpret smartphone data. The authors trained 80 participants from 21 organizations, demonstrating this training's feasibility, acceptability, and need. Case studies explore the implementation of this training curriculum. As technology's potential in mental health care expands, training can empower digital navigators to ensure that the use of digital tools is informed, equitable, and clinically relevant.