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Public Health
At a community health center, doctors offer COVID testing—and screening for depression
The Sayre Health Center in West Philadelphia is including anxiety and depression screening with COVID-19 testing, a necessity for a population especially at risk for both.
COVID-19’s assault on Black and Brown communities
Racism, inequality, and the coronavirus have combined to cause an alarming number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among African-American and Latinx populations.
Do political beliefs affect social distancing?
A new study found that political partisanship influenced Americans’ decisions to voluntarily engage in physical distancing at the start of the pandemic, particularly in response to communications by state governors.
Side Gigs for Good during COVID-19
Whether making masks, writing letters, raising funds, or shopping for neighbors, members of the Penn community have stepped up during the pandemic to support those in need.
COVID-19 checkup
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives and a physician, gave an update on the pandemic during a Perry World House virtual earlier this week. He says summer is a good time to open up in stages but cautions about fall.
To keep firearms safe from children, look to behavioral economics
Mental shortcuts and cognitive biases may factor into whether a gun gets locked up, separate from ammunition. New findings suggest several ways to positively influence this behavior.
Inside the pandemic’s most deadly targets: Nursing homes
The fourth in an ongoing series of LDI “Experts at Home” virtual seminars focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the cracks in how we fund and staff nursing home care.
Why risk behaviors, not orientation, should decide who gives blood
In a Q&A with Assistant Professor of Medicine Katharine Bar, an explanation on how the ban of blood donations on men who have sex with men came to be, why it persists, and what it should be changed to.
Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola
Alex Chen, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, studies emerging disease preparedness, and how air and airflow is the most powerful tool against disease.
Childhood hunger research offers a warning as pandemic threatens food security
As the COVID-19 pandemic has limited access to many free school meal programs, research from Penn GSE’s Sharon Wolf and two colleagues suggests that hunger poses developmental risks for young children.
In the News
UPenn hosts free online panel for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion
The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, led by José Bauermeister and Jessica Halem of the School of Nursing, will host a free online panel in April on the integration of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.
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Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions
Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.
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Posts mislead about COVID-19 vaccine safety with out-of-context clip of FDA official
Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that many adverse medical events, even those clearly unrelated to vaccines, have been reported an order of magnitude more for COVID vaccines during the pandemic than any time before.
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Philadelphians hope a cleaner city will reduce gun violence. Will Oh or Parker make it a reality?
A $3 million blight reduction project in Philadelphia is informed by Penn research showing that cleaning up trash and revitalizing vacant lots can reduce gun violence rates by as much as 29%.
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Universal basic income is working—even in red states
Researchers at Penn concluded that a basic income program in Stockton, California, could have profound positive impacts on local public health.
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NJ’s Camden County deploying virtual reality to teach students about naloxone
Penn partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.
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