Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation in and About Science
Humans learn about the world by collectively acquiring information, filtering it, and sharing what we …
Humans learn about the world by collectively acquiring information, filtering it, and sharing what we know. Misinformation undermines this process. The repercussions are extensive. Without reliable and accurate sources of information, we cannot hope to halt climate change, make reasoned democratic decisions, or control a global pandemic. Most analyses of misinformation focus on popular and social media, but the scientific enterprise faces a parallel set of problems – from hype and hyperbole to publication bias…
Culture/Society | North America | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation and Public Opinion of Science and Health
This article summarizes the literature on misinformation, beginning with an overview of the most common …
This article summarizes the literature on misinformation, beginning with an overview of the most common definitions of misinformation (and related terms) in the communication literature and then a review of academic studies in the areas of science and health. The author acknowledges four overarching questions that have emerged prominently in recent years: (1) What does “misinformation” (and the terms that are oftentimes treated synonymously) mean? (2) How big of a problem is it in areas…
Culture/Society | North America | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | Energy/Engineering | Education/Labor | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Measuring the News and Its Impact on Democracy
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social …
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the deliberate spread of misinformation online, and on social media in particular, has generated extraordinary concern, in large part because of its potential effects on public opinion, political polarization, and ultimately democratic decision making. Recently, however, some have argued that both the prevalence and consumption of “fake news” per se is extremely low compared with other types of news and news-relevant content. Although neither prevalence nor consumption is a…
Culture/Society | North America | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2018Addressing Health-Related Misinformation on Social Media
Policy makers and the social media industry grapple with the challenge of curbing fake news, …
Policy makers and the social media industry grapple with the challenge of curbing fake news, disinformation, and hate speech; and the field of medicine is similarly confronted with the spread of false, inaccurate, or incomplete health information. This viewpoint argues that medical, public health, social science, and computer science experts must begin working together via interdisciplinary research to address health misinformation on social media, with a focus on the following four themes: (1) defining the…
Health/Medicine | Culture/Society | North America | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Science/Technology -
EditorialPublication 2020Waiting for Certainty on COVID-19 Antibody Tests — At What Cost?
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation …
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation policy to reduce COVID-19 transmission. For example: Could we screen for serologic antibodies as a proxy for possible immunity and identify people who could return to the workplace with less severe mitigation measures? The authors acknowledge the uncertainties raised by many policy actors, including the WHO, such as, "Do antibodies confer immunity and, if so, for how long? How accurate is…
Test Performance | Health/Medicine | North America | Infectious Diseases | Probability/Bayes | Technology Assessment | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Global -
Resource PackWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2018Resource Pack: Mental Health and Modeling
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, features resources on modeling …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, features resources on modeling approaches applied to mental health. We aim to provide an overview of different techniques to guide researchers and practitioners in applying decision science and economic modeling to this public health challenge. More specifically, this resource pack contains review articles comparing different modeling techniques in the evaluation of treatments for depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The majority of articles in this…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Health/Medicine | North America | Mental Health | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Europe -
ReportPublication 2017Underestimated Cost of the Opioid Crisis
This report on the opioid public health crisis was released by the White House Council …
This report on the opioid public health crisis was released by the White House Council on Economic Advisors (CEA) in November 2017. It corrects previous estimates of related costs by adding the value of the associated deaths. Earlier estimates focused on medical and other expenditures, while the new report also includes estimates of the value that individuals place on reducing their own risks of premature mortality. The report notes that, in 2015, over 33,000 Americans…
Costing Methods | Health/Medicine | North America | Mental Health | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law -
Online LearningVideo, Teaching Resource 2017Forum. The Opioid Crisis: A Governors Roundtable
Opioid overdoses claim the lives of 91 Americans every day, according to the Centers for …
Opioid overdoses claim the lives of 91 Americans every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This Forum - The Opioid Crisis: A Governors Roundtable, is part of the series, Policy Controversies, and was presented jointly with PRI’s The World & WGBH News. In this multimedia forum, four former governors offered candid insights into how government policy can help, exploring what works and what doesn’t. They spoke about experiences within their own…
Health/Medicine | North America | Social Determinants | Mental Health | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Policy Translation