Health

It’s not exactly what he’s best known for, but Alexander Hamilton helped develop the first national, compulsory health insurance policy in the world: a 1798 taxpayer-financed plan Congress approved to cover sick and disabled seamen. “The interests of humanity are concerned in it,” Hamilton wrote. And they still are, as MIT Professor Amy Finkelstein notes...

Millions of Americans over the age of 65 lack access to the social and emotional support they need for healthy aging, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Non-white individuals in rural communities are especially susceptible. New research from Penn State found that the presence of social infrastructure — shared community spaces that are free...

Quitting alcohol or drugs was not a top priority for people experiencing homelessness in a harm reduction treatment study, yet participants still reduced their use of both. A different approach than traditional abstinence-based programs, harm reduction treatment for alcohol use disorder, also called HaRT-A, has patients set their own goals. In a study of 308...

New research has revealed there is a gap between how people imagine they’d act if sexually harassed and how those who experience it respond. The study by the University of Exeter, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and published in Psychology of Women Quarterly, discovered that seeking justice by coming forward is just one...

Key Takeaways: When food consumers are properly incentivized, they will choose healthier options. When financial incentives are removed, consumers are more likely to choose less healthy options by comparison. A new study of food consumer shopping behaviors has found that when faced with a choice – lower prices or healthier foods – they will likely...

A new study led by researchers from the University of Sydney has found young women’s engagement with social media plays a major role in shaping how they think – and act – in relation to their health. The research, published in the peer reviewed journal Health Marketing Quarterly, studied 30 women aged between 18 and 35...

Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression according to researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP). Dr. Luke Balcombe and Emeritus Professor Diego De Leo from Griffith University’s School of Applied Psychology and AISRAP sought to understand both the positive and negative impacts of the world’s...

A recent American Academy of Dermatology survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults revealed that many Generation Z adults, ages 18-25, are unaware of the risks associated with overexposure to the sun and believe tanning myths. In recognition of Skin Cancer Awareness Month this May, the AAD encourages everyone to practice safe sun to protect...