Health
In addition to supporting policymakers in applying evidence from randomized evaluations to their work, sector chairs and staff write policy insights that synthesize general lessons emerging from the research, condense results from evaluations in policy publications and evaluation summaries, and disseminate lessons to policy makers through targeted outreach. The sector also hosts initiatives such as the US Health Care Delivery Initiative to fund new research.
Case study
Mobile conditional cash transfers to improve routine childhood immunization
The Health Department of the government of Sindh, Pakistan used rigorous evidence from a randomized evaluation to support the scale-up of an incentive program to increase routine childhood immunization coverage and timeliness.
Project
Using Social Networks, Incentives, and Reminders to Boost Vaccine Demand
A package of interventions combining well-connected local immunization ambassadors, targeted reminders, and incentives to caregivers increased measles vaccination by approximately 55 percent in an at-scale study in Haryana, India. A version using only reminders and ambassadors was less expensive per...
Policy insight
Improving health worker performance through pay-for-performance programs
Pay-for-performance incentive programs for health care workers reward providers based on measurable performance indicators. Providing performance-based pay in addition to base pay can help to improve health provider performance on well-chosen targeted indicators relative to providing only base pay. ...
Blog
Introducing the Health Care Evaluation Toolkit: Resources for randomized evaluations in health care
J-PAL North America released a new Health Care Evaluation Toolkit that provides guidance and advice for social scientists conducting randomized evaluations of health care delivery interventions, within health systems, or using health care data, leveraging case studies from the United States.
Evaluation
The Impacts of Mental Health Treatment on Productivity in India
Researchers evaluated the impact of providing depression treatment and economic assistance on mental health and economic behavior in peri-urban communities near Bangalore, India. Treatment reduced depression severity, a benefit that persisted when paired with light-touch livelihoods assistance, but...
Blog
Improving mental health in low- and middle-income settings: Key findings from rigorous research
Mental health conditions are prevalent worldwide, especially among people living in poverty. In 2017, an estimated 10.7 percent of the global population had at least one mental health disorder. Meanwhile, access to services remains low even for those who seek care. Evidence on how to close this...
Case study
Communicating Covid-19 messages at scale via social media
Researchers applied insights from earlier Covid-19 messaging research to launch a large-scale Facebook messaging campaign and corresponding evaluation reaching more than 35 million people.
Policy insight
The effect of nudges on health insurance take-up in the United States
Providing nudges to individuals eligible for health insurance benefits leads to small but notable increases in insurance take-up and plan switching. Low-cost, mass-outreach campaigns are particularly cost-effective compared to more-intensive interventions.
