This fall’s Foltyn Seminar brought together a leading expert in behavioral economics and key figures of community programs in Delaware to better understand how individuals make decisions and how those decisions can be influenced to improve health outcomes. Titled “Preventive Power: Using Nudges and Incentives to Improve Health,” the seminar highlighted critical tactics for improving health throughout the U.S. using nudges, incentives, and food is medicine as a potential paradigm shift in improving health.
Led by keynote speaker Kevin Volpp, Mark V. Pauly presidential distinguished professor and director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as scientific lead for the American Heart Association Health (AHA) Care by Food initiative: “In the first year following a heart attack, only 40 to 45% of insured patients take all of their cardiovascular medications,” Volpp declared. “We need to identify more cost-effective ways to improve health. It’s important to develop and test ways of deploying programs that change clinician and patient behavior as the final common pathway in health improvement efforts.”