Jonathan Purtle
Jonathan Purtle
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Associate Professor of Public Health Policy & Management
Director of Policy Research at NYU’s Global Center for Implementation Science
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Professional overview
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Jonathan Purtle is Associate Professor of Public Health Policy & Management at the New York University School of Global Public Health and also Director of Policy Research at NYU’s Global Center for Implementation Science.
Dr. Purtle is a mental health policy researcher and implementation scientist. His work examines questions such as how the implementation of policies “on the books” can be improved in practice, how research evidence can be most effectively communicated to policymakers and is used in policymaking processes, and how social and political contexts affect mental health policymaking and policy implementation. He is also studies population-based approaches to mental health, suicide prevention, and novel financing models for mental health services—such as earmarked taxes and fees.
Dr. Purtle’s work has been consistently funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). He is currently leading a NIMH-funded project focused on financing policies related to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (R01MH131649), a NIDA-funded study (through the CHERISH Center, P30DA040500) that is analyzing social media data to identify audience segments of state legislators who conceptualize substance use issues in different ways and experimentally testing different ways of communicating evidence these legislators, and co-leading a NCI-funded study focused on cancer policy implementation strategies (R21ACA293319). He is also a co-investigator on projects focused on mental health and health care system resilience following disasters is Puerto Rico (R01MD016426) and Hawaiʻi (R61MD019939).
He has published over 170 peer-reviewed journal articles, is an Associate Editor at Implementation Science, Co-Chairs the Policy Advisory Board at Psychiatric Services, is on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and is Core Faculty of the NIMH-funded Implementation Research Institute.
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Education
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BA, Psychology, Roger Williams UniversityMSc, Sociology, Universiteit van AmsterdamMPH, Drexel UniversityDrPH, Drexel University
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Publications
Publications
A regional analysis of healthcare utilization trends during consecutive disasters in puerto rico using private claims data
Causal Loop Diagrams of Food Systems, Diet, and Obesity : A Scoping Review of Methods, Contextual Factors, and Outcomes
Changes in Specialty Crisis Services Offered Before and After the Launch of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Court-mandated redistricting and disparities in infant mortality and deaths of despair
Disparities in willingness to call the police in a 2023 survey of US adults : Implications for alternative crisis response programs
AbstractRouhani, S., Machavariani, E., McSorley, A. M., Todd, T. L., & Purtle, J. (n.d.).Publication year
2025Journal title
Preventive MedicineVolume
198AbstractObjective: To estimate willingness to call the police in an emergency among US adults to inform policies addressing emergency response and help-seeking. Methods: We utilized cross-sectional data from a web-based 2023 Survey of Racism and Health of (N = 5059) adults in 12 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states and D.C. We estimated odds of willingness to call the police as a function of gender, race/ethnicity, and lifetime diagnosis with a behavioral health (substance use or mental health) condition using unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression. Results: Most of the sample (80 %) reported willingness to call the police in an emergency. Dds were observed among Black (aOR 0.33; 95 % CI 0.27–0.41), American Indian/Native American (aOR 0.43; 95 % CI 0.27, 0.70), and Multiracial (aOR 0.36; 95 % CI 0.25–0.52) compared to White respondents, and those with behavioral health diagnoses (aOR 0.73; 95 % CI 0.61, 0.88). Women (aOR 1.23; 95 % CI 1.05, 1.43) and older adults (Age 55+: aOR 4.62; 95 % CI 3.70, 5.80) reported higher willingness to call the police. Conclusions: Findings highlight subpopulations for whom the police may not be a viable source of emergency response, particularly individuals who are racially minoritized and/or have behavioral health conditions. This has implications for alternative response programs which rely on 911 dispatch to triage calls and highlights a need for targeted messaging and alternative mechanisms to call for service in communities with police mistrust.Evidence for Public Policies to Prevent Suicide Death in the United States
Preferred Sources For Suicide Prevention And Crisis Services Among Segments Of The US Adult Population
AbstractPurtle, J., Dahlen, A., Mauri, A. I., Erickson, B. R., & Lindsey, M. P. (n.d.).Publication year
2025Journal title
Health affairs (Project Hope)Volume
44Issue
7Page(s)
869-877AbstractRecent policy initiatives such as the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline aim to increase the use of crisis services. We conducted a probability survey of 5,006 US adults in 2023 and used latent class analysis to identify population segments that vary in crisis help-seeking preferences. We identified five segments: "Seek Help Nowhere," "Definitely Not 988, Yes Friends And Family-Distressed," "Seek Help Everywhere," "Seek Help Most Places, But Not Religious Network," and "Relatively Indifferent-Not Distressed." Having serious prior-thirty-day psychological distress was positively associated with membership in the Definitely Not 988 segment and was negatively associated with the Relatively Indifferent segment. Respondents who were not aware of the 988 Lifeline were more likely to be in the Seek Help Nowhere and Definitely Not 988 segments. Political party affiliation was associated with membership in all segments. Communication campaigns that encourage the use of crisis services and help seeking may consider tailoring messages for these different audience segments.Review of Emergent Financing Models for Mental Health Crisis Systems
State Parental Consent Law and Treatment Use Among Adolescents With Depression
AbstractSchleider, J. L., Smock, A., Ahuvia, I. L., Walubita, T., Rapoport, A. S., Hill, S., & Purtle, J. (n.d.).Publication year
2025Journal title
JAMA PediatricsVolume
179Issue
2Page(s)
209-212Abstract~The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US : status of evidence on implementation
The effect of caregiver opinion leaders to increase demand for evidence-based practices for youth anxiety : A cluster randomized controlled trial
AbstractCrane, M. E., Atkins, M. S., Becker, S. J., Purtle, J., Dysart, G. C., Keller, S., Brauer, O., Tiwari, S. E., Olino, T. M., Baez, L., Lestino, J., & Kendall, P. C. (n.d.).Publication year
2025Journal title
Implementation Research and PracticeVolume
6AbstractBackground: Dissemination initiatives have the potential to increase consumer knowledge of and engagement with evidence-based treatments (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT]). Opinion leaders (OLs) have been used in public health campaigns, but have not been examined for the dissemination of mental health treatments. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior to test the dissemination strategy of involving an OL in an educational presentation to increase caregiver demand for CBT for youth anxiety. Method: Participants (N = 262; 92% female; 69% White, 82% non-Hispanic) were caregivers who registered for a virtual presentation on youth anxiety treatment through their child's school. Schools within 1.5-hr drive of Philadelphia, PA were cluster-randomized (k = 25; two-arm prospective randomization) to the OL condition (presented by a clinical researcher and local caregiver OL; n = 119 participants) or the researcher-only condition (n = 143 participants). Presentations occurred from May 2021 to May 2022. Measures were completed pre- and post-presentation and at 3-month follow-up. Results: Relative to the researcher co-presenter, participants rated the OL as significantly more relatable, familiar, similar, and understanding of their community, but less credible than the researcher co-presenter. In both conditions, there was a significant pre-post increase in participants’ knowledge of, attitudes about, subjective norms related to, and intention of seeking CBT for youth anxiety, but not stigma. Presentation conditions did not differ in change on these measures, or on rates of seeking youth anxiety CBT at follow-up. Conclusions: Although involvement of a caregiver OL did not increase caregiver demand for evidence-based treatment for youth anxiety, the outreach presentation was associated with increases in knowledge of, attitudes about, subjective norms related to, and intention to seek CBT for youth anxiety. Involving OLs in researcher-delivered dissemination efforts may not be necessary for all consumer audiences, but may be beneficial for engendering a sense of relatability, similarity, and connection with disseminators.Use of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at National, Regional, and State Levels
A Mixed-Methods Exploration of the Implementation of Policies That Earmarked Taxes for Behavioral Health
AbstractStadnick, N. A., Geremia, C., Mauri, A. I., Swanson, K., Wynecoop, M. R., & Purtle, J. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
Milbank QuarterlyVolume
102Issue
4Page(s)
913-943AbstractPolicy Points Earmarked tax policies for behavioral health are perceived as having positive impacts related to increasing flexible funding, suggesting benefits to expand this financing approach. Implementation challenges related to these earmarked taxes included tax base volatility that impedes long-term service delivery planning and inequities in the distribution of tax revenue. Recommendations for designing or revising earmarked tax policies include developing clear guidelines and support systems to manage the administrative aspects of earmarked tax programs, cocreating reporting and oversight structures with system and service delivery agents, and selecting revenue streams that are relatively stable across years. Context: Over 200 cities and counties in the United States have implemented policies earmarking tax revenue for behavioral health services. This mixed-methods study was conducted with the aim of characterizing perceptions of the impacts of these earmarked tax policies, strengths and weaknesses of tax policy designs, and factors that influence decision making about how tax revenue is allocated for services. Methods: Study data came from surveys completed by 274 officials involved in behavioral health earmarked tax policy implementation and 37 interviews with officials in a sample of jurisdictions with these taxes—California (n = 16), Washington (n = 12), Colorado (n = 6), and Iowa (n = 3). Interviews primarily explored perceptions of the advantages and drawbacks of the earmarked tax, perceptions of tax policy design, and factors influencing decisions about revenue allocation. Findings: A total of 83% of respondents strongly agreed that it was better to have the tax than not, 73.2% strongly agreed that the tax increased flexibility to address complex behavioral health needs, and 65.1% strongly agreed that the tax increased the number of people served by evidence-based practices. Only 43.3%, however, strongly agreed that it was easy to satisfy tax-reporting requirements. Interviews revealed that the taxes enabled funding for services and implementation supports, such as training in the delivery of evidence-based practices, and supplemented mainstream funding sources (e.g., Medicaid). However, some interviewees also reported challenges related to volatility of funding, inequities in the distribution of tax revenue, and, in some cases, administratively burdensome tax reporting. Decisions about tax revenue allocation were influenced by goals such as reducing behavioral health care inequities, being responsive to community needs, addressing constraints of mainstream funding sources, and, to a lesser degree, supporting services considered to be evidence based. Conclusions: Earmarked taxes are a promising financing strategy to improve access to, and quality of, behavioral health services by supplementing mainstream state and federal financing.A Tale of Two Taxes : Implementation of Earmarked Taxes for Behavioral Health Services in California and Washington State
Acceptability and feasibility of policy implementation strategies for taxes earmarked for behavioral health services
Demographic variation in preferred sources for suicide prevention and mental health crisis services among U.S. adults
Design considerations for developing measures of policy implementation in quantitative evaluations of public health policy
Impact of U.S. Federal Loan Repayment Programs on the Behavioral Health Workforce : Scoping Review
Maui Wildfire and 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Call Volume and Capacity
AbstractRivera-González, A. C., Purtle, J., Kaholokula, J. K., Stimpson, J. P., & Ortega, A. N. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
JAMA network openVolume
7Issue
11Page(s)
e2446523Abstract~Measuring variation in infant mortality and deaths of despair by US congressional district in Pennsylvania : a methodological case study
Methods and measures to evaluate the impact of participatory model building on public policymakers : a scoping review protocol
Multi-level alignment processes in the sustainment of a youth substance use treatment model following a federal implementation initiative : A mixed method study
Operational and organizational variation in determinants of policy implementation success : the case of policies that earmark taxes for behavioral health services
Policy dissemination and implementation research
Proportion of US Counties and Population Served by Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics
AbstractMauri, A. I., Xiang, N., Adams, D. R., & Purtle, J. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
JAMA Health ForumVolume
5Issue
10Abstract~