Health

J-PAL’s Health sector focuses on identifying policies and programs effective at improving the reach, quality, and take-up of health services and products.

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.

Adolescent girls holding a poster and talking to their classmates about menstruation in Madagascar
Evaluation

Addressing Menstrual Stigma and Hygiene to Improve Education and Psychosocial Well-Being among Adolescent Girls in Madagascar

Researchers evaluated the impact of a program addressing constraints related to hygiene infrastructure and access to sanitary products while addressing social stigma around menstruation, on girls’ learning and psychosocial well-being in Madagascar. The program led to improvements in academic...

Health worker in Sindh, Pakistan speaks with caregiver at immunization site.
Evidence to Policy

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.

Evaluation

Forgive and Forget: The Impact of Medical Debt Forgiveness on Financial Outcomes in the United States

In this randomized evaluation, researchers evaluated the impact of a medical debt relief program (that buys and relieves a portion of  individuals’ medical debt) on measures of mental and physical health, health care utilization, and financial well-being—including financial distress, credit score...

A man with a tablet talking to a woman
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...

Person looking at computer screen with "Health Care Evaluation Toolkit" landing page
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. 

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...

Sector Chairs

Co-Chair, Health

Distinguished Professor

Georgetown University

Co-Chair, Health

Erwin H. Schell Professor of Management

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Karen Macours

Co-Chair, Health

Co-Chair, Learning for All Initiative

Sector Contacts

Aimee Barnes

Senior Policy Associate, J-PAL Global