Highway Safety Research Agenda Infrastructure And Operations

"TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 756: Highway Safety Research Agenda: Infrastructure and Operations develops a proposed agenda of prioritized safety research needs in the area of highway infrastructure and operations. The report provides options to the U.S. transportation community on how to direct research to the areas where it can provide the most benefit. The agenda is based on a prioritization methodology developed by the research team which can be applied on a recurring basis to update the agenda over time. Both the agenda and the methodology documented in this report will assist government officials, private sector employees, and academics with managing highway safety research. In addition to the report, 16 unpublished appendices (Appendices A-O and R) have been made available electronically."--Publisher description.

"TRB Special Report 292 ... recommends the creation of an independent scientific advisory committee (SAC). The SAC would be charged with development of a transparent process for identifying and prioritizing research needs and opportunities in highway safety, with emphasis on infrastructure and operations, and using the process developed to recommend a national research agenda focused on highway infrastructure and operations safety. The report also explores opportunities to improve the quality of highway safety research." -- publisher's website.

"TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 756: Highway Safety Research Agenda: Infrastructure and Operations develops a proposed agenda of prioritized safety research needs in the area of highway infrastructure and operations. The report provides options to the U.S. transportation community on how to direct research to the areas where it can provide the most benefit. The agenda is based on a prioritization methodology developed by the research team which can be applied on a recurring basis to update the agenda over time. Both the agenda and the methodology documented in this report will assist government officials, private sector employees, and academics with managing highway safety research. In addition to the report, 16 unpublished appendices (Appendices A-O and R) have been made available electronically."--Publisher description.

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.

"TRB Special Report 295, The Federal Investment in Highway Research, 2006-2009: Strengths and Weaknesses assesses how well the investments that Congress made in research programs through the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users comply with the principles articulated in the preface to the act's research title. The book contains findings and recommendations about specific research programs and calls for reliance on competition and merit review in awarding funds through the Federal Highway Administration and in selecting institutions for the University Transportation Centers program of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration."--Pub. desc.