Blogs - This Week In Public Health

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 […]

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Resources

Raw Milk Benefits: What Does the Science Actually Say?

For most of the last century, pasteurization has been one of public health’s quieter success stories. Milk is heated for a short period, disease-causing microorganisms are dramatically reduced, and the milk that reaches consumers retains essentially the same major nutrients. That arrangement did not generate much controversy for decades. Recently, however, raw milk has moved […]

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News

When the Health System Works Differently Depending on Who You Are

In this week’s deep dive into public health research, a slate of new studies underscores persistent inequities affecting diverse populations across the U.S. and globally. From disparities in diagnostic evaluation in cancer care to the unequal burden of social needs screening and surgical outcomes by geography, these findings offer much-needed evidence to inform systemic reforms. […]

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Analytics

Every State Has Its Own Mortality Fingerprint. We Mapped America’s Most Unusual Places to Die.

What if your state doesn’t die like the rest of America? Most of us assume we know the nation’s leading causes of death. Heart disease tops the list. Cancer follows close behind. Stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and unintentional injuries round out the familiar rankings. But those national statistics hide a remarkable truth. The way people […]

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Analytics

Bridging Data Science Gaps in Public Health Training

Picture a bustling public health department, where a dedicated team of professionals is navigating the myriad challenges of improving community health. Within this environment, traditional approaches to public health are being fundamentally transformed by the power of data science. But there’s a catch: these professionals are experts in epidemiology and community health but often lack […]

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Analytics

Bridging Data and Action: Leveraging Community Health Assessments for Systematic Change

Imagine a bustling community meeting in Shelby County, Tennessee. Health department officials, local hospital representatives, and community advocates gather to discuss the latest public health data. Despite dozens of programs operating throughout the county, the meeting’s tone carries a familiar frustration: systemic health inequities persist, and the outcomes remain unchanged. It’s a scene playing out […]

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Funding

The Accountability Gap in Non-Profit Hospitals

In the bustling corridors of a non-profit acute care hospital, nurse managers face a relentless daily calculus. They’re managing staffing ratios, crunching numbers for overtime expenses, and ensuring that every penny spent aligns with patient care delivery. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the same institution, the administrative echelon navigates its duties without a comparable yardstick for productivity. […]

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Analytics

A List Isn’t a Decision: Why Barrier and Facilitator Studies Don’t Always Help People Choose

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 […]

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Research

Trauma-Informed Care Is More Than Being Sensitive to Trauma

Nearly everyone experiences trauma at some point in life. Whether it stems from violence, abuse, neglect, disasters, serious illness, military service, discrimination, or community violence, traumatic experiences can have lasting effects on physical health, mental health, and interactions with healthcare systems. That reality has changed how many healthcare organizations think about patient care. Today, trauma-informed […]

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Analytics

The End of Childhood? Why the World Is Running Out of Children

What Happens When Children Become a Minority? For nearly all of human history, societies have been built around children. That assumption is quietly disappearing. Across parts of Japan, elementary schools are closing because there are no longer enough children to fill their classrooms. Some former schools have been converted into community centers, apartment complexes, or […]

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