Applying Behavioral Economics to Public Health Policy

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Prev Med
• Personal Author:
  Matjasko, Jennifer L. ; Cawley, John H. ; Baker-Goering, Madeleine M. ; Yokum, David V.
• Description:
  Behavioral economics provides an empirically informed perspective on how individuals make decisions, including the important realization that even subtle features of the environment can have meaningful impacts on behavior. This commentary provides examples from the literature and recent government initiatives that incorporate concepts from behavioral economics in order to improve health, decision making, and government efficiency. The examples highlight the potential for behavioral economics to improve the effectiveness of public health policy at low cost. Although incorporating insights from behavioral economics into public health policy has the potential to improve population health, its integration into government public health programs and policies requires careful design and continual evaluation of such interventions. Limitations and drawbacks of the approach are discussed.
• Keywords:
  Decision Making Economics, Behavioral Health Policy Humans Policy Making Public Health
• Source:
  Am J Prev Med. 50(5 Suppl 1):S13-S19
• Pubmed ID:
  27102853
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4871624
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  50
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:bdf2664833467b40fd0315736ce25c46f4948f0f7239aa67468363163f95154d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/39570/cdc_39570_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 77.34 KB ]