Dear John,

ICYMI, we are accepting applications for the 2024-2025 Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees cohort through February 15, 2024. Find out more below!

Responsiveness And COVID-19

Despite the implementation of similar nonpharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global mortality burden of the pandemic was not evenly distributed.

In fact, per capita death rates varied by more than two orders of magnitude across countries.

In the December issue of Health Affairs, Tse Yang Lim of Harvard University and his team of coauthors find that the degree of responsiveness to evolving pandemic risks varied among nations and was the primary factor driving variation in COVID-19 mortality rates.

Responsiveness correlated with uncertainty avoidance and power distance.

The researchers conclude that “while cultural factors significantly influenced responsiveness in our study, they accounted for only about one-third of the variation in estimated responsiveness” suggesting that responsiveness can be influenced by policy makers and communities.

To learn more about the article, be sure to check out a video abstract featuring author Tse Yang Lim.

Applications for the 2024–2025 Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees cohort are open until February 15, 2024.

The purpose of the Fellowship is to increase the quantity and quality of manuscripts published by early-career researchers interested in addressing health inequities among underserved racial and ethnic populations, while cultivating future health equity research leaders.

In the program, fellows will receive multilayered mentorship from experienced Health Affairs authors and editorial staff for eighteen months (July 2024–December 2025).

Expand Your Research

In conjunction with our new issue on Global Lessons from COVID-19, we wanted to highlight studies on COVID-19 and Systems of Care.

In an October 2023 Forefront article, author Florian Krammer examined the future of COVID-19 vaccine development.

ICYMI, we announced the continuation of our Forefront Series "Medicare and Medicaid Integration."

Due to the ongoing support from Arnold Ventures, we are able to reissue our call for submissions for this series. We will accept submissions until October 31, 2024.

With this in mind, let's take a look back at the series, which has featured policy analysis, proposals, and commentary that we hope will elevate the issues for our audience and inform policies on the state and federal levels to advance integrated care for those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

• How Can Integrated Care Programs More Effectively Coordinate Care For Dually Eligible Individuals? (December 2023)
• How States And Health Plans Can Meaningfully Engage Dually Eligible Individuals In Plan Governance (August 2023)
• Opportunities For States To Promote Financial Integration For Dual-Eligible Individuals (May 2023)
• Improving Care For Dually Eligible Individuals With Intellectual And/Or Developmental Disabilities (December 2022)