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.
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...
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...
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.
Evaluation
Positive Psychology for Psychological Well-Being and Decision-Making in Kenya
In Kenya, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a light-touch positive psychology intervention on psychological well-being and economic decision-making for low-income populations. The intervention had a positive impact on gratitude; however, it had no significant...
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. ...
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.
Evaluation
Messaging Strategies to Promote Safe Water and Hygiene in Bangladesh
Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand-washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but...
