Thursday, November 21, 2024 11/21/2024

The Impacts of County-Level COVID- 19 -Related Public Health and Social Policies on Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Mental Health and Healthcare Utilization

Award Number: U01MH129968
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic and related mitigating measures have brought on tremendous financial hardship for vulnerable Americans, with nearly 15% unemployment at its peak and millions falling into poverty. There have been striking racial and socioeconomic disparities in these hardships, particularly for Black and Latinx families, which build on longstanding inequities in income, housing, and other social determinants of health. Recent research has demonstrated the impact of the pandemic and its resulting socioeconomic inequities on disparities in mental health and healthcare utilization. It is increasingly recognized that policies play a role in mitigating or exacerbating these disparities. For example, mandated closures lead to job and income loss, which disproportionately affect low-income and minority women. Conversely, economic support policies ensure that vulnerable families have the resources to stay healthy at home. While some studies have examined the effects of state-level COVID-19-related policies, there has been little systematic documentation of county-level policies and their effects on disadvantaged groups. The goal of this study is to leverage, expand upon, and link existing national data sets to test the hypothesis that county-level public health and social policies have affected disparities in mental health and healthcare utilization. In Aim 1, we will gather county-level COVID-19- related policy data for 2020-2021 for a nationwide sample of 250 counties, selected to ensure coverage of over half of the U.S. population as well as diversity in racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and urban/rural composition. Policies will be drawn from online sources and grouped into 3 domains chosen due to likely impacts on mental health and utilization: (1) containment and closure, (2) economic support, and (3) public health. We will characterize geographic and temporal variation in county-level policies and make this database freely available. In Aim 2, we will examine which county-level COVID-19-related policies contributed to or ameliorated pandemic-related disparities in mental health and health behaviors, linking the policy database from Aim 1 with national health surveys that provide individual-level data on self-reported psychological distress, smoking, alcohol use, and illicit drug use. In Aim 3, we will estimate the association of county-level COVID-19-related policies with disparities in healthcare utilization for mental health problems, linking the policy database from Aim 1 with national data sets that provide individual-level data on healthcare utilization. Aims 2 and 3 exploit temporal and geographic variation in county-level policies and employ quasi-experimental methods to estimate policy effects. Conducted in close collaboration with other SBECCC investigators, the expected outcome of this research is the creation of a county-level policy database that will serve as a valuable resource for researchers and stakeholders working to understand how local policies contributed to and continue to influence pandemic- related health disparities, as well as specific evidence on policy effects on mental health outcomes. This will guide policies and interventions to reduce mental health burden especially for vulnerable communities.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $739,405 )
2024	2024	HARVARD COLLEGE PRESIDENT & FELLOWS OF	677 HUNTINGTON AVE	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	003	4	8/1/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$739,405
2024	2023	HARVARD COLLEGE PRESIDENT & FELLOWS OF	677 HUNTINGTON AVE	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	3	7/11/2024	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$128,860
2024	2023	HARVARD COLLEGE PRESIDENT & FELLOWS OF	677 HUNTINGTON AVE	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	3	7/31/2024	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$0
2024	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	7/11/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$128,860
														Subtotal = $739,405

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $509,205 )
2023	2023	HARVARD COLLEGE PRESIDENT & FELLOWS OF	677 HUNTINGTON AVE	BOSTON	MA	02115	SUFFOLK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	3	8/8/2023	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$509,205
2023	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	5/24/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
2023	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	8/8/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $509,205

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $694,041 )
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	6/16/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$694,041
														Subtotal = $694,041

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $675,691 )
2021	2021	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	9/17/2021	NEW	$675,691
														Subtotal = $675,691

Grand Total All Awards = $2,618,342

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The Impacts of County-Level COVID- 19 -Related Public Health and Social Policies on Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Mental Health and Healthcare Utilization

Award Number: U01MH129968

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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