Helping justice-involved adults find and use health care
Official title: An RCT Testing a Health Literacy Intervention to Reduce Disparities in Access to Care Among Justice Involved Adults (JIA)
Funded at University of California, San Diego · NIH-11314233 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project compares coach-guided health coaching to self-directed learning to help adults with past justice involvement (ages 18–50) get insurance, a regular provider, and use care when they need it.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Diego NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project start | July 13, 2022 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $650,592 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MD016959-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11314233 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults aged 18–50 with prior justice involvement who live in the San Diego area and can take part in a year-long follow-up are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People under 18, over 50, without prior justice involvement, or living outside the San Diego area are unlikely to be eligible or benefit from this specific trial.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be randomly assigned to either a UCSD RELINK coach who will guide you through learning about and connecting to health care or to a self-directed learning option. The study will enroll 300 adults ages 18–50 with prior justice involvement in San Diego and follow people for 12 months. The main check-in looks at whether you used health services by six months, with a follow-up at 12 months to see if use stayed consistent. Researchers will also interview participants at 6 and 12 months to hear about your experiences and how the program affected your decisions about care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could help justice-involved adults get and keep health insurance, find a regular provider, and use health services when needed.
How similar studies have gone: Health coaching and health-literacy interventions have shown promise in other groups, but coach-guided programs focused specifically on justice-involved adults are relatively new and less tested.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ojeda, Victoria D — University of California, San Diego
- Study coordinator: Ojeda, Victoria D
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.