Around the Institute

Healthy and Local

April 10, 2015  • David Devlin-Foltz

Get local. Eat local. (If you’re in DC, anyway)

A reminder to our Washington, DC denizens or visiting fans: our next APEP evaluation breakfast is coming up fast: April 23rd at 8:15 AM at One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 700. Carlisle Levine and Laia Grino will discuss their InterAction paper urging authentic local ownership of development project evaluations. By the magic of Skype, they’ll be joined by non-local Leslie Groves, who recently completed a study on feedback mechanisms for DFID. Sign up here so we can get up early and grind enough locally produced coffee. 

 

Measuring Medicaid Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Actually, that’s not at all what this recent blurb from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public health says; instead, they note how Columbia researchers concluded that Medicaid coverage produces a lot of well-being per dollar [just $62 000 per quality-adjusted life-years gained, as they say]despite producing no gains in key measures of physical health. By broadening the scope of their analysis, they could demonstrate quantifiable increases in mental health, financial wellbeing, and other indicators. The point: remember to ask ourselves: are we measuring the right stuff? It’s a $62,000/QALY  question.

 

Nice When the Good Guys Win

APEP is part of the Aspen Institute, and we are neutral conveners, nonpartisan, and transparent and all that. But APEP  just flat doesn’t like tobacco companies. And APEP wants to give a big shout-out to tobaccofreekids.org for their work helping tobacco control advocates worldwide. The good guys are winning this one. In Brazil, China, and other countries, the good guys are local. But it helps to have John Oliver on your side.