Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2016“Nudges” in Law and Policy
This article describes research on Americans’ preferences for types of “nudges” in the context of …
This article describes research on Americans’ preferences for types of “nudges” in the context of law and public policy—those that target “system 1” thinking, meaning the intuitive, emotion-based mechanisms, such as graphic warnings and default rules, versus those that target “system 2” thinking, the rational, deliberative form of cognition, such as statistical information or education-based messages.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Decision Psychology | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2021Rational Policymaking during a Pandemic
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and …
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and its global impacts are unprecedented, decisions are taken in a highly uncertain, complex, and rapidly changing environment. In such a context, in which human lives and the economy are at stake, the authors argue that using ideas and constructs from modern decision theory, even informally, will make policymaking a more responsible and transparent process.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Decision Theory | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2020Online Competition between Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Views
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, …
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, for example, could amplify outbreaks as happened for measles in 2019. Homemade remedies and falsehoods are being shared widely on the Internet, as well as dismissals of expert advice. There is a lack of understanding about how this distrust evolves at the system level. Authors provide a map of the contention surrounding vaccines that has…
Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2017Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science into Action
Vaccination is one of the great achievements of the 20th century, yet persistent public health …
Vaccination is one of the great achievements of the 20th century, yet persistent public health problems include inadequate, delayed, and unstable vaccination uptake. Psychology offers three general propositions for understanding and intervening to increase uptake where vaccines are available and affordable. The first proposition is that thoughts and feelings can motivate getting vaccinated. Hundreds of studies have shown that risk beliefs and anticipated regret about infectious disease correlate reliably with getting vaccinated; low confidence in…
Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Global Governance | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID-19, Fake News, and Vaccines: Should Regulation Be Implemented?
This article analyzes issues concerning the establishment of compulsory vaccination against COVID-19, as well as …
This article analyzes issues concerning the establishment of compulsory vaccination against COVID-19, as well as the role of misinformation as a disincentive – especially when published by health professionals – and citizen acceptance of measures in this regard. Data from different surveys revealed a high degree of hesitation rather than outright opposition to vaccines. The most frequent complaint related to the COVID-19 vaccination was the fear of side effects. Within the Spanish and European legislative…
Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global -
ArticlePublication 2020New Fronts in the War on Misinformation
The countless false claims that have spread alongside the novel coronavirus – inaccurate advice about …
The countless false claims that have spread alongside the novel coronavirus – inaccurate advice about how to prevent the virus, for example, and conspiracy theories about its origins – are just the latest manifestation of an ongoing problem: the online proliferation of misinformation about science and health. The National Academies hosted and helped organize three events focused on countering misinformation: The MisinfoCon conference, a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, and a meeting to explore ways to expand successful…
Preferences/Values | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Decision Psychology | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | North America -
ArticlePublication 2017Making Fair Choices on the Path to UHC: Applying Principles to Difficult Cases
Progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) requires making difficult trade-offs. The World Health Organization (WHO) …
Progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) requires making difficult trade-offs. The World Health Organization (WHO) Consultative Group on Equity and UHC has endorsed the principles for making such decisions. These principles include maximizing population health, priority for the worse off, and shielding people from health-related financial risks. But how should one apply these principles in particular cases, and how should one adjudicate between them when their demands conflict? This article by some members of the…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Health Systems | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2016Departures from Cost-Effectiveness Recommendations: Health System Constraints
Cost-effectiveness analysis assumes a single constraint, in the form of the budget constraint, whereas in reality …
Cost-effectiveness analysis assumes a single constraint, in the form of the budget constraint, whereas in reality decision makers may be faced with numerous other constraints. The objective of this article is to develop a typology of constraints that may act as barriers to implementation of cost-effectiveness recommendations. Six categories of constraints are considered: the design of the health system; costs of implementing change; system interactions between interventions; uncertainty in estimates of costs and benefits; weak governance;…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2016Accounting for Technical, Ethical, and Political Factors in Priority Setting
This article investigates two cases of priority setting to explore how, in addition to technical …
This article investigates two cases of priority setting to explore how, in addition to technical considerations, ethical and political factors shape the allocation of health resources. First, they discuss how Thai authorities adjudicated a coverage decision for HLA-B*1502 screening, which meets the national cost-effectiveness threshold for only some of the conditions it can detect. Second, they consider England’s Cancer Drugs Fund to investigate the interplay of technical decision making and political reality. The findings suggest four concluding…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Government/Law | Policy/Regulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Climate/Environment | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | Europe