Policy Codesign

Policy Codesign is an emerging area of practice and science to improve persistent problems in policy development and implementation. Our team is collaborating with national and international design, evidence-synthesis, and health equity experts in developing and testing these models. Policy codesign is an approach to multi-sector knowledge sharing and relationship building that sets the stage for more effective implementation.

Our Work Leading Policy Codesign:

CULTURALLY AFFIRMING & RESPONSIVE MENTAL HEALTH (CARE) FOR KIDS & FAMILIES

With workforce shortages and the impact of COVID-19 on our communities' mental health, the need for expanding access to culturally responsive, child mental and behavioral health services is immense. CARE for Kids & Families is a new project led by a growing coalition of collaborators and facilitated by UW’s CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy that works to address that need while centering community knowledge and lived experience. This initiative has been funded through Washington State legislative proviso. Learn more here.

MENTAL HEALTH EQUITY AT SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

CoLab is working with Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH) staff, leadership, and community leaders came together to create a Codesign team to collaboratively re-design mental health services and improve access and mental health services at Seattle Children’s Hospital for Black families. Learn more here.

RAPID EVIDENCE REVIEWS

Rapid Evidence Reviews (RERs) are systematic reviews of research literature that restrict searches by year or topic in order to produce an overview of the published evidence within a short period of time. CoLab conducts RERs to search for answers to questions raised by Washing State policymakers or court officials.

 TELEHEALTH BEHAVIORAL POLICY ANALYSIS

CoLab is conducting a policy analysis of telebehavioral health vendor arrangements and network implementation strategies to determine the value of telehealth to reach hard-to-access regions and populations that are not currently well-served by physical behavioral health providers. The policy analysis aims to provide more information on which telebehavioral health strategies provide the most value to Medicaid-eligible clients.