Latest Insights & Research

Stay informed with the latest public health research, insights, and evidence-based analysis from our team of experts.

Category: commentary

All Workforce News Health equity Research Commentary Policy Mental health Society
Commentary

How Does Peer Support Work? 8 Mechanisms Behind Peer Specialists

Peer specialists have become an increasingly visible part of mental health, substance use, recovery, and community-based services. They bring something unusual into formal systems of care: knowledge derived from lived experience. That sounds straightforward. The underlying science raises a more interesting question. How does peer support actually produce change? A peer specialist may encourage someone, […]

Read more →
AI

Interested in AI and Public Health? This Post Could Save You $1,400

Artificial intelligence is coming to public health. Actually, based on the program for the first annual Artificial Intelligence and Public Health Conference (AIxPH), it is already here. The National Network of Public Health Institutes is bringing together public health practitioners, technologists, researchers, policymakers, community organizations, and others in Baltimore from October 14–16, 2026. The program […]

Read more →
Commentary

Were Razor Blades Ever Found in Halloween Apples? The Surprising Truth

Every Halloween, the warning returns. Check your children’s candy. Don’t eat anything that’s already open. Be suspicious of homemade treats. And whatever you do, watch out for razor blades hidden in apples. For many Americans, the razor blade in the apple is practically part of Halloween folklore. It belongs alongside haunted houses, jack-o’-lanterns, and that […]

Read more →
Commentary

Sense of Community: Why Belonging Matters for Health and Well-Being

There is a particular feeling that happens when you find yourself somewhere and think, these are my people. It might happen with your neighbors, coworkers, a sports team, a recovery group, a religious congregation, an online community, or a group of friends you have known for decades. The specific setting almost does not matter. What […]

Read more →
Analytics

When Everything Is a Barrier, Nothing Is

This article is part of Decision-Useful Implementation Science, an ongoing series exploring what implementation research actually tells us about putting evidence into practice. Using large-scale text analysis, natural language processing, and bibliometric methods, the project examines nearly 1.5 million PubMed-indexed publications from 1980 to 2025. Rather than reviewing individual studies, the series steps back to […]

Read more →
Commentary

The Public Health System Nobody Thinks About Until Someone Dies

In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, trucks carrying bodies moved through Port-au-Prince while rumors of impending disease outbreaks spread almost as quickly as the disaster itself. Officials faced pressure to remove the remains immediately. Families searched desperately for missing loved ones. Public health experts confronted a challenge that had little to do with […]

Read more →
Commentary

Can Public Health Become Precise?

In 2003, scientists completed one of the most ambitious research projects in human history: the Human Genome Project. After more than a decade of work and billions of dollars in investment, researchers had produced the first complete map of the human genetic code. The achievement promised nothing less than a revolution in medicine. The vision […]

Read more →

Get the latest public health insights—
every Thursday morning.

We scan 70+ journals so you do not have to.
One email. Zero jargon. Unsubscribe anytime.

Want to see what you'll get?

View Sample: Powering Women’s Rise in Global Health

No spam. 1-click opt-out. Privacy-first.