Health of Populations and Health Equity

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 policymakers have consulted epidemiologists and economists to determine the best course of action.

There is increased acceptance that social and behavioral determinants of health (SBDH) impact health outcomes, but electronic health records (EHRs) are not always set up to capture the full range of SBDH variables in a systematic manner. The purpose of this study was to explore rates and trends of social history (SH) data collection—1 element of SBDH—in a structured portion of an EHR within a large academic integrated delivery system.

Significant racial disparities were observed in discussions, prescribing, and use of diabetes technology.

Understanding cognitive health, its decline, and the investments that shape its age profile in later life are important in an aging society, and yet, estimating the cognitive health production function is complicated by non-random mortality and sample attrition. The author studies this dynamic selection problem in the context of education, race, and cigarette smoking, characteristics thought to affect the level, but not slope, of cognitive decline. The author develops a general framework that involves estimation of a system of dynamic equations consistent with the Grossman (1972) model.

Health-maximizing and welfare-maximizing behaviors can be at odds, especially among disadvantaged groups, generating health disparities. We estimate a lifecycle model of medication and labor supply decisions using data on HIV-positive men.

Care partners have an active role during medical visits of older adults with hearing loss (HL) and dementia. Efforts to support care partner engagement and teach advocacy skills may close gaps in care quality for the subgroup of older adults who are living with HL and dementia.

The United States faces an ongoing drug crisis, worsened by the undertreatment of substance use disorders (SUDs). Family enrollment in high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and the resulting increased cost exposure could exacerbate the undertreatment of SUD. This study characterized the distribution of health care spending within families where a member has a SUD and estimated the association between HDHPs and family health care spending.

The main asset of a business is its people, without whom organizations could not function. As such, employers are naturally motivated to invest in their workers. But how should they go about improving the health of employees while also improving the company’s bottom line?

As the health of Americans gets worse, with chronic disease and physical and mental illnesses on the rise, do corporations have a role to play in addressing the health crisis?

Although nearly half of all family and unpaid caregivers to older adults work, little is known about short-term work impacts of caregiving using measures encompassing both missed work time and reduced productivity while physically at work. We quantify the prevalence, costs, and correlates of caregiving-related work productivity loss.

The proposal for a national PrEP program applies some of the lessons of the national COVID vaccine campaign to HIV prevention.

Medicaid managed care insurers play a crucial role in facilitating access to buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder. Using a novel set of provider directory and prescription claims data, we examined variation in access to in-network buprenorphine-prescribing primary care providers among Medicaid managed care enrollees.

Realizing the promise of equity in the organ transplantation system

A study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University found that stay-at-home orders in one county can inspire residents of neighboring counties to travel less.

Ge Bai, PhD, led a new study in Medical Care Research and Review recommending that policy makers should consider improving transparency of the commission made by insurance agents and brokers to help facilitate employers making efficient broker contracting and plan purchasing decisions.

How people have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic provides insight into the ways that people make decisions, alter their behavior, and respond to other major threats.