Health and Behavioral Health
The Health and Behavioral Health concentration prepares graduates for challenging careers developing research and policy that influence the quality, accessibility, and delivery of health care in the United States.
Focus of the Concentration
The U.S. health system is complex in its structure, processes, and outcomes. This trillion-dollar industry is the largest service industry in the nation, and is charged with the task of health promotion and prevention, and the diagnosis and treatment of ill health. Its knowledge base and technology expand at an exponential rate. The changes now redefining health care include: the continuing evolution of managed care, the concentration of provider institutions and insurers into fewer large competitors, the growing uninsured population, increasing concern with racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health, increasing evidence for and awareness of the implications of behavior and lifestyle on health, and a search for lower-cost alternatives. In this environment, skilled health care managers, researchers, and educators who also have training in policy analysis are at a premium.
In the Health and Behavioral Health concentration, we examine the U.S. health care system and its political, social, economic, and technical contexts. We focus on topics such as factors in the causation of ill health, the structure and processes of health care organizations and service delivery systems, approaches to financing health care, the delivery of substance abuse and mental health services, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities, and health care and its role in social change.
Training Fellowships
Support for doctoral training is available through fellowships provided by the National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Schneider Institutes for Health Policy website discusses in detail the NIAAA and AHRQ programs.
Program of Study
Like the other concentrations, the concentration in Health and Behavioral Health builds on the theoretical grounding in economics, political science, and sociology, as well as skills in both qualitative and quantitative research, required by the PhD program of study. The goal of the Health and Behavioral Health concentration is to prepare students for careers in university teaching and research, government agencies, and other research and service settings where, as graduates, they will frame new questions and bring their knowledge and analytical skills to bear on social programs and policies related to health problems and health care service delivery and financing.
Doctoral Seminar
Resident students are required to attend the weekly non-credit doctoral seminar in their concentration.
Led by concentration faculty, the doctoral seminar is devoted to presentation and discussion of research in the area of the concentration by Heller faculty, invited speakers, and advanced doctoral students. Students are expected to discuss their progress in developing dissertation ideas, research questions, and research design at least once each semester. In addition, at least two joint seminars each semester cover subjects such as dissertation processes, peer-reviewed publication, and doctoral career choices, valuable for all in-residence doctoral students.
Dissertation
The final requirement is the successful defense of a dissertation presented to the Heller faculty. Dissertation titles have included:
- Care Coordination for Senior Patients with Multiple Chronic Diseases: Examining the Association between Organizational Factors and Patient Outcomes
- Use of Performance-Based Contracts in Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment
- Measuring Hospital Climate for the Delivery of Patient- and Family-Centered Care
- Resource Needs and Performance of National HIV/AIDS Programs in Low- and Middle-income Countries
- A Study on the Effects of Language Discordance and Limited English Proficiency in Cancer Screening
- The Design of Pay-for-Performance and Public Quality Reporting for Hospital Care in Medicare: Theory and Empirical Evidence
- Evaluating Coordination as a Key Driver of Performance in Ambulatory Care Clinics
The Schneider Institutes for Health Policy
The concentration draws upon the presence of the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy, under the direction of Professor Stanley Wallack. Among SIHP's institutes are the Institute on Healthcare Systems, 
led by Associate Professor Christopher Tompkins, and the Institute for Behavioral Health, led by Associate Dean for Research and Professor Constance Horgan. The Schneider Institutes conduct more than two-thirds of the outside-funded research at the Heller School and are the largest research institute within Brandeis University. SIHP staff includes over 70 researchers and technical assistance experts with backgrounds in economics, public policy, public health, sociology, political science, psychology, medicine, nursing, health administration, finance, operations, and business management. SIHP research examines the health care system from a variety of perspectives, including questions of access to and quality of care, how health care is financed, delivered, and utilized, and the cost of such care.
