RWJF Health Policy Research Scholars Program Evaluation

Summary

The UM-Diversity Research and Policy Program (DRPP) Evaluation Team (led by Dr. Angela Ebreo and Dr. Phillip Bowman) has partnered with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Research Scholars (HPRS) leadership and staff to implement evaluation activities for the HPRS Program. The RWJF’s Health Policy Research Scholars Program is a four-year national leadership development program for full-time doctoral students from nonclinical, academic disciplines with a policy focus. Participants in the HPRS Program are committed to ensuring their research is aligned with the health needs of communities. The program focuses on researchers who want to improve health, well-being, and equity; challenge long-standing, entrenched systems; exhibit new ways of working; collaborate across disciplines and sectors; and engage others outside of the research community. By providing leadership development training, supporting opportunities to practice new behaviors, and learning to work in teams, HPRS strives to develop a new cadre of research leaders who will build a Culture of Health in their disciplines and communities.

As a collaborative stakeholder, the DRPP evaluation team contributes to the HPRS Program’s increasing national significance for creating a Culture of Health. The DRPP team has used its strength-based model as a guiding framework for the evaluation activities, which include both formative, process, and short-term outcome related activities. The DRPP team was also consulted with the HPRS Program leaders on strengths-based assessment of applicants and the selection of Program scholars.