Health Literacy

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The Changing Landscape of Health Literacy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Viral Transmission of Knowledge and Information Around COVID-19

With the official public health emergency ended, now is a good time to reflect on the changing landscape of health literacy and consider how we can improve health communication in the future.

Julia Bandini, Lucy B. Schulson, et al.

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How Truth Decay Is Fueling Vaccine Hesitancy

A recent poll found that more than a quarter of Americans will not try to get vaccinated. The spread of misinformation and disinformation, which is rampant over social media, is one of the factors fueling vaccine hesitancy. And in turn, it's threatening our ability to end the pandemic for good.

Jennifer Kavanagh

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President Biden's First Address to Congress: Insights from RAND

President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress, summarizing his administration's early COVID-19 response and outlining plans that aim to loosen the pandemic's year-long grip on a weary nation. The speech reflected the fact that the United States faces policy challenges across a wide range of domains.

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Trust in the CDC, Teaching Students with Disabilities, Russian Mercenaries: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses declining trust in the CDC, insights from educators about teaching students with disabilities, Russian mercenaries, and more.

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Who Can Effectively Champion the Vax?

Vaccine hesitancy appears to be one more hurdle in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC would typically lead a campaign to overcome it, but Americans' trust in the CDC has declined measurably. Health care professionals may be more effective messengers when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines.

Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis, Michael S. Pollard @MichaelSPollard

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Open Science and a Culture of Health: You Two Should Talk

By working together, the Culture of Health and Open Science movements could increase their potential to accelerate the use of scientific evidence to address impediments to population health and collective well-being.

Sean Grant @GrantSeanP, Kathryn E. Bouskill @kebouskill

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Why ACA Enrollees Need Support After They Sign Up

Providing support for Affordable Care Act enrollees to connect with care they are happy with can help minimize the risk that they will stop seeking routine health care.

Laurie T. Martin

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Science and the Healing Arts

Americans spend billions of dollars out of pocket seeking relief from chronic conditions in alternative schools of health, such as acupuncture or chiropractic. What would it take to more fully integrate such practices into the mainstream?

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Open Enrollment, Take 2: What Matters for the ACA Marketplace?

As the Affordable Care Act's second open-enrollment period draws to its February 15 close, relatively few of the millions of Americans eligible to switch plans have revisited their options. What actions can be taken to ensure that people know they have the right to a new choice each year?

Laurie T. Martin

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RAND Helps to Develop From Coverage to Care, a New CMS Initiative

Health coverage is a means to an end: the aim is to help more Americans use their coverage to access routine primary care and preventive services. For many of the newly insured, however, the leap between obtaining insurance and establishing a regular source of care is substantial.

Laurie T. Martin, David M. Adamson

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Have You Estimated Your Cardiovascular Risk?

Research suggests that setting a baseline by getting an estimate of your individual cardiovascular risk can help you see more clearly what you have at stake and what you can do to improve your chances of a long and healthy life.

Chloe E. Bird @ChloeBirdPhD

blog

Many Americans Are Confused About the Affordable Care Act

In a nationally representative sample of more than 6,000 Americans, researchers found an acute lack of understanding among low-income people regarding finances in general, and health reform and health insurance in particular.

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The FDA Ban on Trans Fat Should Be Just the Beginning

Most people lack the information they need to judge or track the quantity and quality of the nutrients they consume. The FDA should take a disease prevention approach — as it is currently doing with trans fat — in promoting standards that address how all foods are prepared and served away from home.

Deborah A. Cohen

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Quick Takes: Health Literacy and ACA Enrollment

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands coverage to millions of Americans. But the newly eligible may face challenges enrolling if they lack understanding of how the health care system itself works. Laurie Martin explains the role of health literacy in determining how successful the ACA will be in providing coverage for America's uninsured.

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Health Care Spending: What's in Store?

Resolving the question of whether or not the U.S. has finally gotten a handle on health care spending is vitally important, because the choices we make going forward will have profound implications for our economy, the financial wellbeing of millions of American families, and ultimately America's standing in the world.

Arthur L. Kellermann

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Applying What Works to Reduce Non-Urgent Emergency Department Use

It is likely that communities with low rates of non-urgent ED use not only have better access to primary care, but patients who are educated about appropriate care seeking and convenient alternatives for acute care, writes Lori Uscher-Pines.

Lori Uscher-Pines

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Insurance Expansion and Health Literacy

The ongoing evolution of the health care system is leading US households toward greater responsibility for their own well-being. With this responsibility, however, comes an increasing need to be able to find, trust, use, and act on relevant information to make informed choices, write Laurie T. Martin and Ruth M. Parker.

Laurie T. Martin, Ruth M. Parker

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Improve Health, Not the Health Care System

One reason that health reform proposals always seem to fail is that proponents promise too much. Reformers declare they will improve quality, lower costs and increase access — all at the same time. This mantra is repeated so often that the public tends to believe it is possible, when really it isn't, writes Dana P. Goldman.

Dana P. Goldman