Using Digital Health Support And Behavioral Science Principles To Help Treat Tuberculosis
Foreword
At TDL, our role is to translate science. This article is part of a series on cutting edge research that has the potential to create positive social impact. While the research is inherently specific, we believe that the insights gleaned from each piece in this series are relevant to behavioral science practitioners in many different fields. As a socially conscious applied research firm, we are always looking for ways to translate science into impact. If you would like to chat with us about a potential collaboration, feel free to contact us.
Introduction
Behavioral science insights can profoundly impact health outcomes — from encouraging prosocial handwashing behaviors during a pandemic to increasing the number of individuals who sign up for health insurance. As a socially-conscious applied research firm, TDL is interested in using empathy, technology, and design-thinking to promote better outcomes in many aspects of society, from health to education to the economic empowerment of disadvantaged groups. To amplify these impacts even further, leveraging digital tools to create health solutions can scale and achieve these desired outcomes more cost-effectively than traditional interventions.
The Decision Lab reached out to Dr. Erez Yoeli of MIT to learn more about his work on a project involving digital health tools for Tuberculosis (TB) patients and the future direction of similar areas of research in behavioral science.
Dr. Yoeli is a research associate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and co-director of the Applied Cooperation Team (ACT), a team of researchers that applies insights from the social sciences towards increasing contributions to real-world public goods.
In this study, Dr. Yoeli and a multidisciplinary team of researchers developed a behavioral science informed digital health platform that provided TB patients with support and increased adherence to treatment plans.
A full version of the paper is available here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1806550
About the Authors
Erez Yoeli
Dr. Yoeli is a research associate at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and co-director of the Applied Cooperation Team (ACT), a team of researchers that applies insights from the social sciences towards increasing contributions to real-world public goods. He designs and tests large-scale interventions to promote altruistic behaviors such as charitable donations, volunteering, resource conservation, and medication adherence. Dr. Yoeli has worked as a researcher at Harvard University’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics and Yale University’s Human Cooperation Laboratory. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.
Julian Hazell
Julian is passionate about understanding human behavior by analyzing the data behind the decisions that individuals make. He is also interested in communicating social science insights to the public, particularly at the intersection of behavioral science, microeconomics, and data science. Before joining The Decision Lab, he was an economics editor at Graphite Publications, a Montreal-based publication for creative and analytical thought. He has written about various economic topics ranging from carbon pricing to the impact of political institutions on economic performance. Julian graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Management.
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