Welcome to
The Healthy Nudge
. Each month, we'll get you up to speed on the latest developments in policy-relevant health behavioral economics research at CHIBE. Want more frequent updates? Follow us on Twitter
@PennCHIBE
and visit our
website
.
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New RCT: E-Cigarettes, Incentives, and Drugs for Smoking Cessation
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A new study led by
Scott Halpern, MBE, MD, PhD put five smoking cessation programs to the test in a pragmatic trial among over 6,000 U.S. employees. An
LDI Research Brief on the study summarizes, "...the most effective intervention (free cessation aids plus $600 in redeemable funds) helped 2.9% of participants stop smoking through six months after their target quit date; this rate jumped to 12.7% among participants who actively engaged in the trial and were more motivated to quit...offering free cessation aids or electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) did not help them quit smoking."
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Our Director,
Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD was recently appointed as Penn's inaugural chairholder of the Founders President's Distinguished Professorship through a generous gift from Dr. Janet and John Haas.
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In an interview for
CHIBEblog, Penn Medicine Nudge Unit Director
Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA, MS explains how using a particular kind of lottery-based financial incentive can help increase physical activity among overweight and obese adults.
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Work-in-Progress Seminar:
Assistant Professor of Population Medicine; Associate Director, Obesity Prevention Program, Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
06/28 @ Noon
251 Biomedical Research Building
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To Get Smokers to Quit, Money Works Better Than Electronic Cigarettes
PA Health System Aims to Take the Mystery Out of Health Care Prices - And Offers a Discount for Paying Cash
Electronic Health Records are Broken, But They Might be Fixable
Here's What Scientist Do - and Don't- Know about E-Cigarettes
Innovation Tournament Targets Mental Health Clinicians Across Philadelphia
Can Bundled Payments Help Control Health Care Costs?
Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Self-Management for People with Diabetes on Staten Island
Cash Could Help Teens Stop Texting While Driving
Fit Hacks: Join Our First Running Challenge
Behavioral Economics From Nuts to ‘Nudges’
It’s Time for the ‘Four P’s’ of Marketing to Make Room for a ‘T’: Time
Fixing Health-Insurance Markets
Help Squad: Research Shows Greater Online Privacy Controls Can Result in Sharing More Personal Information
Lowering Drug Prices: Will the Cost Outweigh the Cure?
Taking Risks Is Necessary, But Risk Doesn't Work Like You Think It Does
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Penn student
Ariel Gelrud
is a rising junior studying economics and statistics. Particularly interested in behavioral economics, developmental economics, and inequality, he is joining CHIBE affiliated faculty member
Heather Schofield, PhD
this summer to assist with a number of projects. Ariel's family is originally from Venezuela and he grew up in Miami, Florida.
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How did you develop an interest in behavioral economics?
I grew up in a household where everyone around me had very distinct decision-making styles, and so I've always been really interested in understanding the factors that influence the decision-making process. The more I learned about behavioral economics, the more I realized the impact that environmental factors and incentives have on our thinking, and I've been fascinated with the idea of harnessing these insights to promote wellbeing ever since.
What does your work this summer focus on, and what has been your favorite aspect of the job so far?
This summer, I am working with Dr. Heather Schofield on a number of projects relating to the interaction between cognitive health and economics. In one study, we are trying to estimate the causal impact of improved sleep on
cognitive function, health, wellbeing, and economic outcomes among low-income workers in Chennai, India. We hope the outcomes of this project can ultimately be used to inform public policy that reduces sleep deprivation. We are also currently working on designing a project that measures how loneliness affects our decisions and preferences. The most interesting part of my work has been learning about all the different design aspects that go into creating RCTs that allow us to see relationships in the noisy real world.
Where do you see yourself after college? How might behavioral economics fit into your future career goals?
After college, I plan to pursue a PhD in economics and work specifically on issues of health, development, and inequality. Whether my career leads me into the public policy sphere or not, I think behavioral economics will always allow me to better understand how our decisions are formed and what can be done to improve them. I foresee the behavioral insights I've gained playing a prominent role in my future work.
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- Adams SA, Rohweder CL, Leeman J, Friedman DB, Vanderpool RC, Askelson N, Best A, Flocke SA, Glanz K, Ko LK, Kegler M. Use of Evidence-Based Interventions and Implementation Strategies to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening in Federally Qualified Health Centers. J Community Health. 2018.
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