On the Evidence

On this episode of On the Evidence, Don Berwick of the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative, Tom DiLiberto of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Aparna Keshaviah of Mathematica explore the risks that climate change and extreme heat pose to human health and how data can help inform solutions. A full transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/addressing-the-harmful-effects-of-climate-change-on-extreme-heat-and-human-health Learn more about ClimaWATCH, an interactive online tool that can support communities seeking to understand and adapt to the local effects of heat waves on their residents’ health: https://mathematica.org/publications/climawatch-tool Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate change practice: https://mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Learn more about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s work over the past five years with more than 65 communities to map urban heat islands and use data-driven insights to mitigate the harmful and inequitable effects of extreme heat: https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-and-communities-to-map-heat-inequities-in-14-us-cities-and-counties Learn more about the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector: https://nam.edu/programs/climate-change-and-human-health/action-collaborative-on-decarbonizing-the-u-s-health-sector/

On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, guests Michael A. Becketts, Tracy Wareing Evans, Shavana Howard, and Matt Stagner make the case for state and local human services agencies to play a central role in the response to climate change. Becketts is the director of the Fairfax County Department of Family Services; Wareing Evans is the President and Chief Executive Officer at American Public Human Services Association; Howard is an assistant secretary for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services; and Stagner is a vice president at Mathematica. They explain how the field of human services is uniquely positioned to support communities that will be disproportionately harmed by climate change and they identify ways that social science research and other forms of evidence can help develop solutions to environmental injustice. Additional resources mentioned on the episode, plus a full transcript of the conversation, are available here: mathematica.org/blogs/the-role-of-human-services-in-securing-environmental-justice

As the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change demonstrate, in an increasingly interdependent world, communities across the globe face shared challenges and need shared solutions. In the latest episode of On the Evidence, Adam Coyne, Chris Boyd, and Respichius Deogratias Mitti discuss the changing role of data and evidence in supporting decisions to improve well-being in a more interconnected world. Coyne oversaw international research at Mathematica for most of the past two years and currently serves as the company’s chief growth officer. Boyd is the managing director of EDI Global, a data collection and research organization focused on East Africa that became a subsidiary of Mathematica in 2018. Mitti is a country director for EDI Global who lives and works in Tanzania. A transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/the-globalization-of-evidence-informed-decision-making-in-a-more-interdependent-world Learn more about Chris Boyd, the managing director of EDI Global, in a recent Q&A for Mathematica’s blog: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/a-conversation-with-chris-boyd Learn more about Mathematica’s international research in more than 50 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America: https://mathematica.org/focus-areas/international-research Learn more about Mathematica’s ground-breaking work on studying negative income tax experiments in the United States, which has informed pilot projects in other countries as well as in the U.S. to test the impacts of monthly guaranteed income payments: https://mathematica.org/blogs/idea-that-launched-a-policy-research-revolution

Every year, Mathematica publishes dozens of new papers and reports, some of which surface fresh insights about how public agencies and private organizations can be more effective at improving public well-being. For the 91st episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, we’re launching an occasional series focused on examples of solutions that recent research suggests are effective. All three solutions in this episode involve financial incentives that seek to reduce health care costs while improving the quality of care patients receive. One seeks to reduce the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, or other events related to cardiovascular disease. Another is focused on bringing down the cost of health care and improving patient health by providing primary care services at home. And the last one, again, seeks to keep costs down while improving patient health, but this time by using a unique payment model that provides incentives to hospitals to change the way they do business. Email [email protected] to provide feedback about our approach to covering solutions on the podcast. A full transcript of this episode is available here: https://mathematica-mpr.com/blogs/solutions-for-preventing-heart-attacks-improving-patient-health-and-reducing-health-spending Read the fourth annual report from Mathematica for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the evaluation of the Million Hearts Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluation-of-the-million-hearts-cardiovascular-disease-risk-reduction-model-fourth-annual-report Learn more about the ongoing evaluation of the Million Hearts Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/million-hearts-cardiovascular-disease-risk-reduction-model Read the seventh annual report from Mathematica for Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation on the evaluation of the Independence at Home Demonstration: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluation-of-the-independence-at-home-demonstration-an-examination-of-year-7-the-first-year Learn more about the ongoing evaluation of the Independence at Home Demonstration: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluation-of-the-independence-at-home-demonstration Read the report from Mathematica for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation on impacts from the first three years of the Maryland Total Cost of Care Model: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/evaluation-of-the-maryland-total-cost-of-care-model-quantitative-only-report-for-the-models-first Learn more about Mathematica’s ongoing evaluation of the Maryland Total Cost of Care Model for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation: https://www.mathematica.org/projects/evaluating-accountability-for-statewide-health-cost-and-quality-outcomes-cpc

This episode of On the Evidence explores lessons from contact tracing for COVID-19 that should inform current and future efforts to rebuild the public health field, particularly its workforce, after the public health emergency ends. This episode features the following guests: • Elinor Higgins, a policy associate at the National Academy for State Health Policy • Shelley Fiscus, a pediatrician and senior policy consultant at the National Academy for State Health Policy • Rachel Brash, a strategist in the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development who helped oversee the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative • Shan-Tia Danielle, who worked as a contact tracer and led a team of contact tracers for the Washington State COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Partnership • Candace Miller, a principal researcher at Mathematica who directed the Washington State COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Partnership • Shaun Stevenson, an advisory services analyst at Mathematica who supported the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative Episode transcript: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/charting-a-course-for-public-health-based-on-lessons-from-contact-tracing-during-the-pandemic Learn more about the Washington State COVID-19 Contact-Tracing Partnership between the Washington State Department of Health, Mathematica, Comagine Health, and Allegis: https://mathematica.org/news/mathematica-partners-with-comagine-health-allegis-and-washington-state-on-contact-tracing Read Mathematica’s interim (https://mathematica.org/publications/baltimore-health-corps-initiative-a-transitional-jobs-program-to-improve-public-health) and final issue briefs about lessons from Mathematica’s coaching of career navigators who supported more than 300 community health workers under the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative: https://mathematica.org/publications/lessons-learned-from-the-baltimore-health-corps-initiative-a-transitional-jobs-program-to-improve Read an independent evaluation of the Baltimore Health Corps Initiative, prepared by Abt Associates: https://moed.baltimorecity.gov/news/press-releases/2022-08-19-evaluation-baltimore-health-corps-pilot-economic-and-public-health Explore a dashboard developed by Mathematica and the Public Health Foundation to present key demographic characteristics of (1) contact tracing trainees who received training through the TRAIN Learning Network and (2) the communities they serve: https://www.mathematica.org/dataviz/building-community-based-contact-tracing Read a blog explaining the purpose behind the contact-tracing dashboard developed by Mathematica and the Public Health Foundation: https://mathematica.org/blogs/insights-for-building-a-community-based-contact-tracing-workforce Explore an interactive map and table developed by Mathematica and the National Academy for State Health Policy that tracks state approaches to contact tracing for COVID-19: https://www.nashp.org/state-approaches-to-contact-tracing-covid-19/ Explore a Mathematica data visualization showing the importance of demographics and other community characteristics in informing approaches to contact tracing: https://www.mathematica.org/dataviz/grounding-state-contact-tracing-efforts-in-context Listen to an episode of On the Evidence about the variation in state approaches to contact tracing: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/understanding-the-variation-in-states-covid-19-contact-tracing-approaches Listen to an episode of On the Evidence about the importance of building a community-based contact-tracing workforce: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/contact-tracing-workforce-driving-equitable-sustained-risk-mitigation-in-a-post-pandemic-world Listen to an episode of On the Evidence about the importance of equity in implementing effective contact tracing: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/early-lessons-for-effective-and-equitable-contact-tracing