Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center Annual Report to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health 2014-2015

We are grateful to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) for its continued support of the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s (UMMS) DMH Research Center of Excellence, the Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center (SPARC). We continue to leverage the DMH investment to support innovative, recovery-oriented, state-of-the-art psychosocial and systems research. Highlights of Fiscal Year 2015 include another increase in research dollars awarded through new grants and contracts, and the end of our three-year Strategic Plan to guide our growth and trajectory over the coming years. The Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center conducts research to enhance services, improve the quality of life, and promote recovery for people with behavioral health conditions. Our research informs and advises individuals with lived experience and their families, providers, administrators and policy-makers navigating the behavioral health landscape in the Commonwealth and beyond. SPARC was created in 1993 when it was designated a Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systems Research by the Massachusetts DMH. Our mission mirrors the DMH commitment to collaborating with other state agencies, consumers, families, advocates, providers, and communities. DMH and SPARC are aligned in their vision of promoting mental health through early intervention, treatment, education, policy, and regulation to provide opportunities for citizens of the Commonwealth to live full and productive lives

Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center 2017 Annual Report to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health

Annual report for fiscal year 2017 from the Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center (SPARC). We are grateful to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) for its continued support of the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s (UMMS) DMH Research Center of Excellence, the Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center (SPARC). We continue to leverage the DMH investment to support innovative, recovery-oriented, state-of-the-art psychosocial and systems research. The Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center conducts research to enhance services, improve the quality of life, and promote recovery for people with behavioral health conditions. Our research involves, informs, and advises individuals with lived experience, their families, providers, administrators and policymakers navigating the behavioral health landscape in the Commonwealth and beyond. SPARC was created in 1993 when it was designated a Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systems Research by the Massachusetts DMH. Our mission mirrors the DMH commitment to collaborating with other state agencies, individuals with lived mental health experience, families, advocates, providers, and communities. DMH and SPARC are aligned in their vision of promoting mental health through early intervention, treatment, education, policy, and regulation to provide opportunities for citizens of the Commonwealth to live full and productive lives

Farming Systems Research

Report on the February 1986 Inter Center Workshop on Farming Systems Research (FSR) held at ICRISAT Center, Hyderabad, India. The Workshop, which was suggested by TAC, which noted that 14% of the system's resources was devoted to farming systems in some form. The meeting was intended to help centers develop a unified understanding of how FSR should be approached, to assess the relevance, impact, and priority of such research in the CGIAR, and to outline its future directions. It drew on the stripe review of 1978 on this subject. A statement by representatives of the nine IARCs attending is attached.Agenda document, TAC 39th Meeting, March 1986

The Public Health PBRN Program: A Summative Report

This program seeks to expand the volume and quality of evidence on how best to organize, finance, and deliver public health services by: (1) helping to organize and develop practice-based research networks (PBRNs) comprised of public health agencies and skilled research institutions; (2) selecting grantees to receive funding and technical assistance for PBRN research projects; and (3) facilitating the successful development, implementation, and translation of research projects through PBRNs by providing technical assistance, fostering peer learning, and leading selected multi-network research activities

Defining Comprehensive Public Health Delivery Systems

This brief describes the methodology for defining Comprehensive Public Health Delivery Systems using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems. The systems meeting this definition have been shown to deliver a broader range of recommended public health services, using fewer resources, than the more prevalent types of U.S. public health systems that do not meet this definition. Over time, comprehensive systems are associated with larger gains in population health status than are their counterparts

AGENDA: Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in the Uintah Basin

A public workshop to discuss “Opportunities and Constraints to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development” was held in Vernal, Utah on October 14, 2010 at the Vernal campus of Utah State University. The workshop was sponsored by Utah State University, The Bingham Energy Research Center; The University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center; and the Houston Advanced Research Center, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program. The meeting included presentations and panel discussions on: Trends and environmental issues related to natural gas development Examples of environmental innovations being used in the Uintah Basin Examples of innovation & tools from outside the Uintah Basin Regulations and environmental policies: friend or foe? A panel discussion with government leaders The 145 attendees represented a range of regional and local energy industry actors, representatives from local, state, tribal, and federal government agencies, university scientists, and local community residents

AGENDA: Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in the Uintah Basin

A public workshop to discuss “Opportunities and Constraints to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development” was held in Vernal, Utah on October 14, 2010 at the Vernal campus of Utah State University. The workshop was sponsored by Utah State University, The Bingham Energy Research Center; The University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center; and the Houston Advanced Research Center, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program. The meeting included presentations and panel discussions on: Trends and environmental issues related to natural gas development Examples of environmental innovations being used in the Uintah Basin Examples of innovation & tools from outside the Uintah Basin Regulations and environmental policies: friend or foe? A panel discussion with government leaders The 145 attendees represented a range of regional and local energy industry actors, representatives from local, state, tribal, and federal government agencies, university scientists, and local community residents

AGENDA: Best Management Practices (BMPs): What? How? And Why?

The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems (EFD) Program, managed by the Houston Advanced Research Center, works to identify, develop and transfer critical, cost effective, new technologies that can provide policy makers and industry with the ability to develop natural gas reserves in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Funding for the EFD Program is through a grant from the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, established under the 2005 Energy Act. Within the EFD Program, some projects focus on technologies for developing energy sources in environmentally sensitive areas; others (like the NRLC’s BMP Project) seek ways to reduce the environmental footprint in all types of environments. The EFD Program currently provides the majority of funding for the Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP project. The EFD Program holds quarterly workshops to share ideas among the program partners, sponsors, and with the broader community. The NRLC hosted the EFD\u27s quarterly meeting in a workshop on May 26, 2011 at the Wolf Law Building on the University of Colorado campus. With presentations from EFD project researchers and perspectives invited from all participants, the May, 2011 EFD workshop explored the value of different methods for incorporating BMPs into a development as well as the benefits and cost of implementing BMPs. See the NRLC\u27s Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project for more information on BMPs and how they can be implemented in oil and gas development

AGENDA: Best Management Practices (BMPs): What? How? And Why?

The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems (EFD) Program, managed by the Houston Advanced Research Center, works to identify, develop and transfer critical, cost effective, new technologies that can provide policy makers and industry with the ability to develop natural gas reserves in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Funding for the EFD Program is through a grant from the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, established under the 2005 Energy Act. Within the EFD Program, some projects focus on technologies for developing energy sources in environmentally sensitive areas; others (like the NRLC’s BMP Project) seek ways to reduce the environmental footprint in all types of environments. The EFD Program currently provides the majority of funding for the Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP project. The EFD Program holds quarterly workshops to share ideas among the program partners, sponsors, and with the broader community. The NRLC hosted the EFD\u27s quarterly meeting in a workshop on May 26, 2011 at the Wolf Law Building on the University of Colorado campus. With presentations from EFD project researchers and perspectives invited from all participants, the May, 2011 EFD workshop explored the value of different methods for incorporating BMPs into a development as well as the benefits and cost of implementing BMPs. See the NRLC\u27s Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project for more information on BMPs and how they can be implemented in oil and gas development