Healthcare Systems & Policy

When treatment options aren't clear-cut, can decision-making tools such as brochures and videos help patients make better choices? A new study provides the first systematic review of decision aids designed to help patients with serious illness. The evidence on their effectiveness is mixed.

What happens to at-risk children whose parents die prematurely, leaving them orphaned? It's a vital question, since health disparities can cause early deaths in some populations, leaving children in precarious emotional, educational and financial straits.

Mental Health

For many contemporary Native American communities, accessing healthy food in any form is a challenge. While the federal government offers some assistance, it's often not enough. For my fellowship project, I'll investigate what resources tribes are using – or not – to address food insecurity.

Race and Equity, Food and Nutrition

While the media focuses on the negotiations surrounding Greece's deepening debt crisis, another angle of the story has received less attention: A country on the financial brink is on the verge of a health crisis, too, with medicine shortages a real possibility.

Environmental Health

It's been a very eventful few weeks when it comes to the conversation on vaccines. California enacted one of the nation's toughest vaccination laws, and a new national survey out this week suggests the past year's measles and pertussis outbreaks have changed many parents' attitudes towards vaccines.

In Texas, alarmingly high rates of babies have been born with syphilis. It's since become clear that one of the causes is lack of sufficient prenatal care among some communities. The women receiving the least amount of proper medical care are often the ones who need it the most.

Environmental Health, Women's and Maternal Health

An epidemic of neglected tropical diseases is bubbling just beneath the surface in the United States, trapping the impoverished in a cycle of sickness and poverty. In Texas, infection with the cysticercosis tapeworm is now a major cause of epilepsy among poor residents.

Environmental Health