Topic: Health

Research Brief / COVID-19

The Dollar Store Fix for Vaccination Deserts

Pharmacies aren’t everywhere — adding dollar stores could reduce average distance to vaccination by 62%

Research Question / Happiness

As Income Rises, Link Between Meaning and Happiness Weakens

Globally, lower-income people feel a stronger connection

Poster with text that reads, "colorectal cancer screening tests here" Research Brief / Nudges

Cancer-Screening Procrastination Can Be Deadly: a Nudge Lifts Compliance

At-home test for colorectal cancer delivered with a deadline

Research Brief / COVID-19

Link Between Unvaccinated Staff and Nursing Home Deaths

Higher morbidity found where fewer staffers are vaccinated against COVID-19

Research Brief / Technology

Can Algorithms Help Reduce Hospital Readmissions?

Measuring the utility of increased care and testing, inputs that aren’t always immediately available

Image of yawning newborn baby in bassinet Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

Why the COVID-19 Baby Bust May Be Far Smaller Than Expected

Access to birth control among lower-income women was curtailed by pandemic’s lockdown

An itemized bill of hospital care with a pen and phone laid on top Research Brief / Health Care

Hospital Financial-Aid Programs Boost Use of Vital Health Care

Uninsured and insured both receive help; benefits are temporary

A hospital hallway full of mediical personnel and patients Research Brief / Health Care

Exhausted Doctors Less Likely to Prescribe Pain Meds

At the end of a night shift, empathy for patients’ hurting seems diminished

Two staffers wearing face masks hand dishes to women in the senior living center Research Brief / COVID-19

More Staffers: More COVID-19 Exposures and More Nursing Home Deaths

Reliance on part-timers raises headcounts and dangers to patients

A pill bottle lies on its side with white pills spilling out Research Brief / Health Care

Public Disclosure of Drug Company Gifts: High-Prescribing Physicians Unaffected

The average doctor, following sunshine laws, writes fewer Rx’s for marketed medicines

Book Review / Happiness

A Method to Happiness: Tested in the Lab and in Life

Cassie Holmes’ book combines social science and personal history; jilted on the way to the altar

A refugee carrying a basket on their head walks through a tent encampment. Research Brief / Sustainability

Can Humanitarian Aid Turn Wastefulness to Sustainability?

Seeing global crises as ongoing, rather than episodic, and applying modern supply-chain management

A blue and white sign in front of a building that reads: FDA U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration Research Brief / Health Care

FDA’s Breakthrough Program: Faster Drug OKs Without Sacrificing Safety

Dedicated FDA staff guide companies during design of clinical trials

A side view of feet on a scale Research Brief / Health

Modest Financial Incentives Help with Weight Loss

Tying payments to weight, rather than behaviors, marginally more effective

A sleeping baby wrapped in a white blanket wearing a black graduation cap with a red tasle Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

How Far Would You Go for an Ivy League Kid?

Study finds interest in screening embryos for education propensity, especially if everyone else is doing it

A color image of a genome. Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

College Completion and Your Genome (Don’t Get Too Excited)

It’s still early days in genetic research, though advances will aid study of educational attainment and, notably, disease