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Public Health

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Public health refers to social, cultural, economic, and geographic conditions that affect a population's well-being. To assist local, national, and international health agencies and organizations, RAND conducts research on public health issues including disaster preparedness and recovery; surveillance, prevention, and management of infectious disease outbreaks; screening for and prevention of chronic diseases; and ways to strengthen the public health infrastructure.

Report

2018 National Survey of Health Attitudes

May 1, 2019

This survey seeks to understand how people in the United States think about, value, and prioritize health. Results indicate that many Americans recognize the influence of social and physical factors on health, but one in four do not consider investment in community health a top priority.
Project

Informing the Gun Policy Debate

Mar 2, 2018

RAND's Gun Policy in America initiative provides information on what scientific research can tell us about the effects of gun laws. Our goal is to establish a shared set of facts that will improve public discussions and support the development of fair and effective gun policies.

Explore Public Health

Report

A More Physically Active Population Could Increase GDP by Billions

Exercise affects workplace performance, longevity, and the economy. If people walked just an extra 15 minutes each day, the world economy could grow by about $100 billion a year. Gains are attributed to improved productivity and reduced mortality rates, sick leave, and health care costs.

Nov 5, 2019
Journal Article

Enhancing Community Preparedness with Disaster Citizen Science

The emerging field of disaster citizen science may be a promising way to enhance public health emergency preparedness and build community resilience. This inventory of projects establishes a baseline for future research to capitalize on opportunities, address limitations, and help disaster citizen science achieve its potential.

Oct 30, 2019
Journal Article

Early Evidence of the Impact of Cannabis Legalization on Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder, and the Use of Other Substances: Findings from State Policy Evaluations

Understanding effects of cannabis laws requires greater attention to differences in short- versus long-term effects of the laws, nuances of policies and patterns of consumption, and careful consideration of appropriate control groups.

Oct 30, 2019
Commentary

Uncovering the Links Between Fires and Public Health in Equatorial Asia

Fires in Indonesia, if left unchecked, could cause an average of 36,000 premature deaths annually across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Researchers built a tool that models the effect of the fires on regional public health.

Oct 25, 2019
Report

Could Autonomous Drones Make Blood Deliveries?

Blood must be transported and stored in a certain way, and it has a finite shelf life. Unmanned systems offer flexibility in chaotic or uncertain environments. Could autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles make the military's blood supply network more resilient?

Oct 18, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Understanding the Contribution of UK Public Health Research to Clinical Guidelines: A Bibliometric Analysis

Researchers mapped the contribution of UK research and funders to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence public health guidelines, to understand its strengths, weakness and level of collaboration and coordination across countries.

Sep 24, 2019
Commentary

New Data on How We're Measuring a Culture of Health

We are seeing small but positive changes in the appreciation of the social determinants of health and the need for broader community health investments. People are expanding their views of what influences health and there have been some targeted improvements in health care and public health access. Yet, the critical systemic changes needed for more transformative health improvements have been slower to follow.

Sep 13, 2019
Testimony

Testimony

Implications of U.S.-China Collaborations on Global Health Issues: Addendum

Document submitted on August 19, 2019, as an addendum to testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on July 31, 2019.

Aug 20, 2019
Multimedia

Implications of U.S.-China Collaborations on Global Health Issues

An overview of testimony by Jennifer Bouey presented before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on July 31, 2019.

Jul 31, 2019
Testimony

Implications of U.S.-China Collaborations on Global Health Issues

Past U.S.-China collaborations on pandemic surveillance, public health system building, and biomedical research have benefited both countries and the world. But rising tensions over trade, technology sharing, and security concerns may threaten joint efforts on health.

Jul 31, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

The Role of Communication in Healthcare Systems and Community Resilience

Communication failures often contribute to emergency medicine breakdowns during crises. This article provides a systemic review to introduce emergency medicine providers to research-based best practices in risk and crisis communication.

Jul 3, 2019
Report

Report

Strategic Surveillance for Food Safety: Designing a surveillance approach and considerations for implementation

The Food Standards Agency engaged RAND Europe to design an approach to strategic surveillance for the UK food system. The study team produced an end-to-end approach, identified implementation steps and considered their impact and feasibility.

May 13, 2019
Report

Report

Development of a Knowledge Readiness Level Framework for Medical Research

A new framework for assessing the maturity of knowledge products (outputs from health science research) assigns each product to a knowledge readiness level, to help the U.S. Army make better decisions about its health science research portfolio.

Apr 4, 2019
Report

Assessing the Need for and Uses of Sequences of Interest Databases: A Report on the Proceedings of a Two-Day Workshop

This report details the proceedings of a Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center workshop in which experts considered how a genetic database of "sequences of interest" could best support stakeholders to improve biotechnology research efforts.

Mar 21, 2019
Report

Report

Environmental Biodetection and Human Biosurveillance Research and Development for National Security: Priorities for the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate

This report examines the Department of Homeland Security's chemical and biological defense research and development portfolio to identify priorities for future investments to effectively address biological threats.

Nov 28, 2018
Commentary

Achieving the Trump Administration's National Biodefense Strategy

The Trump administration recently published its National Biodefense Strategy, which says that managing the risk of biological threats is in the “vital interest” of the United States, however they might present. The document provides a solid foundation, but more may be required to fully realize its goals and objectives.

Oct 2, 2018
Report

How to Solve the Water Crisis in Gaza

Gaza has long had water and sanitation challenges, but today it's in a state of emergency. The crisis could be resolved through greater investment in water and power infrastructure as well as more water or electricity purchases. But political complications and other barriers remain.

Sep 26, 2018
Announcement

Announcement

19th U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy Elected to RAND Board of Trustees

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, 19th Surgeon General of the United States, has been elected to the RAND Corporation Board of Trustees.

Sep 14, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Nursing Home Infection Control Program Characteristics, CMS Citations, and Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Policies: A National Study

National baseline data on nursing home infection control programs will aid evaluations of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule requiring facilities to include an antibiotic stewardship and employ an infection preventionist.

Jul 6, 2018

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