Drivers of Health Archive

By Luke Testa It seems intuitive that providing people with accurate health information will help them make better health decisions. But just providing information backed by research isn’t enough to change minds, let alone behavior. The way people engage with health information is more complicated than just consuming available scientific findings. Beliefs play a major Continue reading [...]

The following is an interview with Daniel Polsky, PhD, MPP, Distinguished Professor of Health Economics at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Austin Frakt: To what extent should the health system be involved in addressing social needs? After all, these are not traditionally in the purview of health care. Are the boundaries of health Continue reading [...]

The following is an interview with Sandro Galea, PhD, physician, epidemiologist, author, and dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health. Austin Frakt: Among health care systems, plans, and programs, there has been increasing discussion of, if not investment in, approaches to addressing social needs. What is driving this phenomenon? Continue reading [...]

By Austin Frakt The community of scholars (including some of us on this project) and the health care industry have been using “social determinants of health” to mean so many things that it has lost its original meaning. Sometimes precise definitions don’t matter too much if everyone knows what is meant from context. But I Continue reading [...]

Considering how much money we spend on health care in the U.S., we might hope that we allocate a good chunk of it toward evaluating the impact of the health policies we have in place. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Austin Frakt explores U.S. health policy evaluation (or lack thereof) in one of his recent Continue reading [...]

By Kate Raphael In other blog posts, we’ve discussed U.S. health care spending and outcomes. In short, we spend a lot more on medical care than other high-income countries, yet our health outcomes are often worse. We also spend a lot of money on social programs, which have been shown to be associated with improved health outcomes. It makes Continue reading [...]

By Austin Frakt Social determinants of health comes up from time to time in health policy news or as the subject of reports from health policy-focused organizations. Here are quotes from four stories or reports that caught my eye recently. 1. Investing in Interventions That Address Non-Medical, Health-Related Social Needs, The National Academies Press, August 2019. Continue reading [...]

By Austin Frakt The Drivers of Health meeting in Detroit on September 11 focused on the research and research gaps in the connection between health and housing (presented by Roshanak Mehdipanah of the University of Michigan) and education (presented by Adriana Lleras-Muney of UCLA). The meeting wrapped up with a panel discussion including those two scholars and Robert Gordon, Director Continue reading [...]