J-PAL North America News: Announcing the updated HCDI Evidence Wrap-Up

This Friday (November 1) marks the beginning of the open enrollment period for the federal health insurance marketplace and many state marketplaces. As co-chairs of J-PAL North America’s Health Care Delivery Initiative, we are using this moment to reflect on our mission to improve access to and usage of health care through evidence-informed policies in the United States. We are excited to share updates in this October newsletter for HCDI and other J-PAL initiatives.

This month, HCDI published an updated version of our Evidence Wrap-Up. First published in 2020, this new version captures the most up to date evidence from randomized evaluations on interventions in health care delivery. The wrap-up is meant to serve as a resource for researchers and practitioners who are seeking rigorous evidence on strategies that can improve health care and health outcomes for all Americans. We are excited by the range of interventions and partners represented in the evidence base, a testament that randomized evaluations are feasible and useful in answering research questions in many contexts.

We are also thrilled to feature new results from the Baby’s First Years study conducted by J-PAL affiliated professors Lisa Gennetian (Duke), Greg Duncan (UC Irvine), and their coauthors. This study is evaluating the impact of unconditional cash transfers on early childhood development and health outcomes through long-term data collection and monitoring of mothers and their children. The new paper found that children in the treatment group had higher produce consumption at age two, but by age three there were no statistically significant differences on nutrition, sleep, and other health outcomes.?

In this month’s newsletter, we also feature a new video on our work with housing choice vouchers and a new post on the J-PAL blog about positionality: the idea that a researcher's position in society and their identities can influence how they approach and carry out their research. We invite you to share these resources and funding opportunities with your colleagues and networks, and join us in our mission of finding equitable, effective solutions to poverty alleviation.?

Amy Finkelstein and Marcella Alsan | Co-chairs of the Health Care Delivery Initiative, J-PAL North America

Read more:

• Updated HCDI Evidence Wrap-Up: Showcasing key results from HCDI-supported randomized evaluations, covering topics such as the impact of workplace wellness programs and the health and financial effects of relieving medical debt.
• New Evidence to Scale video: Providing school quality information to improve housing mobility for low-income families.
• On the J-PAL blog: A discussion about the role of positionality in quantitative research

Media Mentions:

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