In the news: Three inexpensive tweaks companies can make to work conditions to foster improved employee well-being

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Researcher Erin Kelly, PhD, contributes findings from the Work and Well-Being Initiative, a Harvard and MIT collaboration, in this piece in FastCompany. Kelly highlights the practices—served up in the form of an employer toolkit on the Initiative’s website—that are based on three principles that can be applied across a spectrum of employment sectors. These principles and the toolkit itself also received a mention in the post “Protecting Employee Health in…

“A Changed World of Work”: The Boston Globe reports on how business leaders are preparing to meet workers’ emerging priorities

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The recently launched Work and Well-Being Initiative website, a joint effort by Harvard and MIT researchers, received a mention in this article in The Boston Globe. The employer toolkit, a publicly available “blueprint” the details steps that employers can take to create a work environment aimed at improving the health and well-being of their workers, was specifically referenced… It identifies specific changes in three categories: taming excessive work demands, allowing…

Many chain restaurants found to change their behavior in response to menu labeling mandate, and roll out lower calorie items

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Opting for newer items on the menu of your favorite chain restaurant may be the best choice if you are calorie conscious. A study published in JAMA Network Open that included nearly 60 of the largest US chain restaurants reveals that the menu items that were introduced after a calorie labeling policy was implemented (the law was enforced starting in May, 2018) had about 25% fewer calories than the already…

Authors of HCPDS working paper warn against underestimating severity of latest COVID-19 variant, Omicron

Omicron variant

Epidemiologist William Hanage, PhD, and infectious disease specialist Roby P. Bhattacharyya, MD, PhD, have authored an HCPDS working paper (Vol. 21, No. 10) in which they caution against inferring intrinsic traits (particularly, severity) from population-level observations, such as what has been observed in South Africa. Vaccination and immunity from prior infections, for example, complicate comparisons between the population-level infection-fatality rate (IFR) of Omicron versus earlier waves (e.g., the Delta variant).

Call for applications: The Sissela Bok Ethics and Population Research Prize

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We are pleased to announce that the call for applications is now open for the Sissela Bok Ethics and Population Research Prize. The $5,000 prize will be awarded in the form of a research/travel grant to a Harvard doctoral student, postdoctoral fellow, or full-time, untenured faculty member who has incorporated ethical considerations into his/her population science research. The deadline to apply is Friday, December 8, 2023.    

How does eviction during childhood impact cognitive development?

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The urban children in this study published in Social Science & Medicine were evaluated at age 9 using four cognitive assessments. Those students who experienced eviction during middle childhood exhibited lower scores (as much as equal to a full year of schooling) than students who did not go through eviction. Authors of the study that examine the under-explored association between childhood eviction and cognitive development include Harvard Pop Center Director…

AJPH salutes “Workplace Redesign for the 21st Century” in this webinar featuring Lisa Berkman

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The October issue of the American Journal of Public Health included the publication “Work Redesign for the 21st Century: Promising Strategies for Enhancing Worker Well-Being,” which coincided with the launch of a companion website and employer toolkit. Tune in to this cast, hosted AJPH and inspired by the “Work Redesign” publication, that features Lisa Berkman talking about work as a key modifiable social determinant of health, especially in light of…

Research Scientist Elyse Jennings named Director of Research at Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies

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It is with great pleasure that we announce that our Research Scientist Elyse Jennings, PhD, has agreed to take on a senior leadership role here at the Harvard Pop Center and serve as our director of research. Elyse joined us in 2016 as a research associate and was promoted to research scientist over two years ago. In her new role as director of research, she will leverage her training and…

Gender norms in rural north India may play role in slow adoption of cleaner, government-endorsed fuel sources for cooking

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Harvard Bell Fellow Aashish Gupta, PhD, and colleagues have published a study in World Development that indicates that despite the government promoting the uptake of cleaner fuel (liquid petroleum gas) for cooking in rural north India, the majority of households are still using solid fuel, which poses health risks due to air pollution.