The Center for Behavioral Health Policy Studies opened at Emory on Oct. 24 to treat people with mental and substance abuse disorders through research, education and service. The center is part of the Rollins School of Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management.
The Center consists of a multidisciplinary team of Emory faculty, staff and students, as well as community partners such as the Carter Center, Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse School of Medicine.
Benjamin Druss, the director of the Center, said the Center will focus on researching the impact of policies related to behavioral health, which encompasses mental health and substance abuse issues. He added that the Center will also work with policymakers and community leaders to develop and evaluate models of behavioral health care.
Druss added that the Center sprung out of a wide gap between the prevalence of mental health issues in our society and effective treatment for them.
"We're working together with those who have a real potential to improve care for people with mental health and substance abuse disorders," Druss said. "Policymakers at the state and federal levels can help us make sure that we're asking the right questions."
In addition, Druss said the Center will also focus on training people to be leaders in behavioral health policy.
"There's a vacuum of leadership right now," he said. "A lot of administrators and mental health leaders are aging out. We need a new generation of people who are well-trained, understand how to use data and understand about mental health policy."
Druss said the Center has been a decade in the making. Although mental health was recognized as an important issue when Druss arrived at Emory 11 years ago, he said not much was being done to provide treatment and care.
"We want to be a front door for people who are interested in research, education and service around the issue of behavioral health policy," Druss said.
According to Druss, the Center's focus on policy reflects an "action-oriented" approach, aiming toward improving policies that affect the delivery of care at local, state and federal levels.
The opening of the Center for Behavioral Health Policy Studies comes at a time when behavioral health policy in the United States is undergoing some changes.
The Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 required behavioral health care to be given equal insurance coverage to medical and surgical care, and 2010's Affordable Care Act expanded health insurance coverage to include a larger part of the population, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Such legislation will play an important role in the Center's research as the impact of these policies becomes more evident, Druss said.
– By Harmeet Kaur
