The History and Social Studies of Medicine Program is a community of scholars using a diverse set of research methodologies to understand the health and medical problems of today within their historical and sociocultural context. Our programs include field and archival research, the development of archival collections, the creation of educational websites, the sponsorship of […]
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided key support for this website through a 2010-13 Investigator Award in Health Policy Research to Joel Braslow and co-investigator John Brekke of the University of Southern California. Visit www.rwjf.org to learn more.
Our archivist Russell Johnson is working to preserve the history of public mental health in California, including many of the documents presented on this site, by preserving and organizing the physical materials so they will be available to researchers in the future. Our Neuroscience History Archive also includes the personal papers and oral histories […]
The 2011 Employed Consumer Study is a qualitative evaluation of the work mental health consumers perform in in LACDMH clinics; the benefits of their employment, to the consumer employee, to the clinic staff, and to other mental health clients; and the impact on institutional stigma. http://histpubmh.semel.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/partnership_files/dc4ceb0f_Consumer_Worker_Report_Sept_24.pdf
Elyn Saks is Associate Dean of the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California. Her research and teaching focus on the ethics of psychiatric research and involuntary treatment of the mentally ill. She herself was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman and dealt with stigma, self-doubt, and forced restraint before medication […]
On May 21, 2010, UCLA and LAC-DMH jointly sponsored the Partnership for Mental Health Conference at UCLA. In the morning session, a small group of distinguished speakers presented recent and cutting-edge research studies on mental health programs and outcomes. In the afternoon, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Stanislaus […]
The Los Angeles County Homeless Child Study, conducted by Dr. Bonnie Zima, in 1990-91, interviewed 169 children ages 6-12 living in 18 homeless family shelters in the County and their parents. Dr. Zima identified high unmet needs for mental health care among the children, 78% of whom suffered from depression, a behavioral or learning problem, […]
The goal of this project is to assess the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). The specific aims are to: 1) Characterize and operationalize Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH) criteria for successful implementation of EBPs. 2) Based on the criteria determined in […]
This five-year NIMH-funded study of the implementation of MHSA in Los Angeles County is led by Deputy Director Dr. Kathleen Daly, Dr. John Brekke of USC, and Dr. Joel Braslow. The goal is to understand how MHSA policies affect client treatment and outcomes, staff practices and morale, and improve mental health services. Research teams of […]