We are in the midst of the greatest American health crisis of this young century, an opioid epidemic that has now led to an astounding 500,000 deaths in the past two decades. There has been substantial ink—appropriately—devoted to this issue, we think there are three areas that receive far less attention than they should. One relates to the silent, concurrent increase in other substance use that is happening, the second relates to who we believe is affected by opioids, and the third to our best hope of stemming this crisis.
A 'Yes' On Question 3 Is A Vote For Public Health | Cognoscenti
This November, Massachusetts voters will be given the chance to repeal a state law banning discrimination against transgender people in places of public accommodation.
The law, passed in 2016, guarantees transgender people the same access to spaces like bathrooms, sports arenas, restaurants, movies theaters and parks enjoyed by populations who are less vulnerable to exclusion and harassment. The option of repeal will be presented to voters as Question 3 on the Nov. 6 ballot. A “no” vote will repeal the law, a “yes” will keep it in place.
Will Disruptive Innovation in Health Care Improve the Health of Populations? | The Milbank Quarterly
Health care in the United States is long overdue for an upheaval. The mismatch between costs, by far the highest in the world, and health outcomes, among the worst in the high‐income world, has long been glaring. Perhaps the good news is that the time for such an upheaval has come. At least 4 forces have been gathering steam, each promising to change the nature of health care and, in so doing, influence population health.
How Art Reflects the Conditions That Create Health | Dean's Note
Population health is shaped by a range of economic, cultural, and environmental factors. Economic trends, political policies, climate change, the rise of social movements all have a hand in creating or undermining health. These conditions, of course, contribute to much more than health. They shape all aspects of the world we live in. They also inspire art as a representation of our world, holding a “mirror up to nature” that allows us to better understand the forces that shape the human story. A note, then, on the intersection of art and population health, and how a deeper understanding of art can make us better students of the conditions that influence the health of populations.
It was with this in mind that we last weekend hosted, in partnership with the Boston University Center for the Humanities, a symposium, “Humanities Approaches to the Opioid Crisis.” The event brought together scholars, artists, and health professionals to explore how art can open a window into the conditions that created this epidemic. As the opioid crisis has worsened, is has become clear that this problem is too big to approach from a single perspective. We must widen our gaze, and see the crisis through the lens of many disciplines, including art, if we are to stop it. We should take a similarly broad view of other health challenges, using the insights of art to help us deepen our empathy, expand our imaginations, and find solutions we might have otherwise overlooked.
The Public's Health: Spending Too Much On the Wrong Things | Public Health Post
Americans spend half as many days in hospital as do persons living in other high-income countries. We take fewer pills per person. We log fewer office visits and have fewer doctors per capita. Yet we spend 2-3 times as much as other countries on health care and have poorer health outcomes. In 2017, we spent $3.5 trillion. Why? Because we overpay.
How the Humanities Can Help the Opioid Crisis | Thrive Global
The opioid epidemic is the public health crisis of our time: with 64,000 annual deaths, it has surpassed the peak losses of all other epidemics, including HIV/AIDS. The financial toll is staggering: over $500 billion annually. Myriad solutions have been proposed, some implemented. And yet, the overall national response remains tepid.
We believe that a major reason for this is the prevailing tendency to see the opioid epidemic as a problem of the other. Elevating the human dimension of the crisis, and recognizing that this is not about them, but about us can go a long way towards redressing our predicament. Fortunately, a vast literature exists to aid our efforts because some of the most eloquent literary minds have written about addiction to opioids.
Brett Kavanaugh, Privilege, and Our Health | Fortune
In his book, A Theory of Justice, the political philosopher John Rawls proposed an idea for creating a better society. He imagined a new social contract, one designed from behind a “veil of ignorance,” where the designers are kept unaware of the position they will occupy in the society they are to build. This allows them to approach their task free from the biases of personal self-interest. They do not know if, in this new society, they will be born gay or straight, white or a person of color, privileged or lacking money and social clout. This way, they will have an incentive to build a world where all can thrive.
Unfortunately, we have fallen far short of Rawls’ vision, and our health has suffered for it. Far from being designed from behind a veil of ignorance, our society is one where entrenched, unearned privilege gives advantages to the few, at the expense of the many. In the US, the richest one percent of Americans now live between 10 and 15 years longer than those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Americans whose skin is not white or who are LGBT are likelier to face bigotry, exclusion, and poor health than those who do not share these characteristics. And, as the #MeToo movement has shown, our society has failed to prevent endemic sexual harassment and abuse.
The Public's Health: Good App Hunting | Public Health Post
Public health and medicine are in a moment of digital euphoria. We have convinced ourselves that mhealth (mobile phone) technologies will improve the health of millions. After all, there are 6 billion smartphones out there and more than 300,000 stand-alone health apps on the market ready to be uploaded. Suddenly, the promises of behavior change to improve the care of highly prevalent conditions (obesity, diabetes, anxiety, insomnia) are scalable. But as behavioral health facilitators, will phone apps work and how will we know if they do?