Articles | WordDisk

Study: Culture influences mask wearing

In the U.S. and globally, cultures with a high level of collectivism tend to encourage masking during the pandemic.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office • mit
May 20, 2021 • ~6 min

How to use statistics to prepare for the next pandemic

Many governments, including the US, already collect and make public population statistics that could help them prepare for the next pandemic.

R. Alexander Bentley, Professor of Anthropology, University of Tennessee • conversation
May 18, 2021 • ~6 min

Lack of sleep is harming health care workers – and their patients

To keep our health care providers healthy, we need to help them sleep.

Soomi Lee, Assistant Professor of Aging Studies, University of South Florida • conversation
May 17, 2021 • ~11 min

How America’s partisan divide over pandemic responses played out in the states

States led by Republican governors generally had higher COVID-19 case and death rates in 2020.

Olga Shvetsova, Professor of Political Science and Economics, Binghamton University, State University of New York • conversation
May 12, 2021 • ~9 min

Are graphene-coated face masks a COVID-19 miracle – or another health risk?

Some face masks now come with a coating of graphene, a substance that can kill microbes. Is it safe to breathe it in?

C. Michael White, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut • conversation
May 4, 2021 • ~7 min

Biden's infrastructure plan targets lead pipes that threaten public health across the US

President Biden has proposed spending $45 billion to replace every lead water pipe and service line in the nation. A public health expert explains why he sees this as a worthwhile investment.

Gabriel Filippelli, Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of the Center for Urban Health, IUPUI • conversation
May 4, 2021 • ~9 min

With COVID spread, ‘racism — not race — is the risk factor’

Since the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak, public health experts have noted the disproportionate toll on Black and brown Americans. Those groups are at much greater risk of getting infected than white people; they are two to three times likelier to be hospitalized, and twice as likely to die, according to recent estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Brett Milano • harvard
April 22, 2021 • ~18 min

Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health

Black Americans have worse health outcomes by many measures. To draw attention to that fact, the CDC and communities across the country have called racism a public health threat.

Paul K. Halverson, Dean, School of Public Health, Indiana University • conversation
April 22, 2021 • ~6 min

Study: Sex differences in Covid-19 mortality vary across racial groups

Black women are more vulnerable than white men, illustrating how race and gender intersect to shape health outcomes.

Peter Dizikes | MIT News Office • mit
April 21, 2021 • ~6 min

Forget the debate over public health versus jobs – the same people suffer the most either way

Most pandemic policies have benefited those already best off in US society and ignored people for whom neither mass shutdowns nor reopening offer relief.

Kate Duchowny, Postdoctoral Scholar in Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco • conversation
April 19, 2021 • ~7 min