Systems for Action (S4A) is a signature research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that helps to build the evidence base for a Culture of Health by rigorously testing new ways of connecting the nation’s fragmented medical, social, and public health systems. Studies conducted through the S4A program test innovative mechanisms for aligning delivery and financing systems for medical, social, and public health services, with a focus on the effects of these mechanisms on health and health equity. S4A uses a wide research lens that includes and extends beyond medical care and public health to incorporate social service systems—such as housing, transportation; education; employment; food and nutrition assistance; child and family support; criminal and juvenile justice; and economic and community development. 

Research studies supported through S4A must: 1) focus on solutions to high-priority system alignment problems that involve medical, social, and public health services; 2) test the effectiveness of these solutions using rigorous scientific methods; and 3) engage stakeholders from medical, social, and public health systems in the design and conduct of the research, so that findings can be readily used in practice. 

Studies funded through the S4A program must test a specific system alignment mechanism that engages all three of the broad sectors referenced in this call for proposals (CFP), including medical care, public health, and social services. These sectors are defined in greater detail below. The S4A Research Agenda uses the term “system alignment mechanism” broadly to include any action that an organization, network, or community may undertake to reduce fragmentation and improve coordination in the delivery of medical, social, and public health services.

Deadline: November 06, 2019, 3:00 p.m. ET