4 Things You Didn't Know Were Public Health Innovations

Public health innovations are all around us - from seatbelts, to water filtration systems, to the 911 line - public health innovations are helping to improve life expectancy in the United States every day. Below, we highlight just a few unlikely public health innovations highlighted by Bloomberg American Health Initiative faculty members:

1. Narrow Travel Lanes

   Research led by Shima Hamidi, Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, found that roads with 10–12-foot lanes and speed limits of 30–35 mph have significantly higher crash rates compared to those with 9-foot lanes. Narrowing lane widths at these speed limits offers city leaders an opportunity to improve safety for all roadway users, increase the number of bike lanes, and create more green spaces in their communities.
    

2. Violence Reduction Councils

   Violence Reduction Councils are a public health-based model designed to prevent violence in cities by bringing together public health professionals, social service agencies, the criminal justice system, and community-based organizations involved in violence prevention. Developed by Cassandra Crifasi, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management and co-director of the Center for Gun Violence Solutions, and Mallory O’Brien, associate scientist in the same center, these councils review case-specific information about the victim and suspect, the circumstances surrounding the incident, neighborhood factors, and broader trends in city violence. Members identify gaps or weaknesses in policy and practice, as well as systemic barriers to violence prevention. The council then proposes recommendations to address these barriers and strengthen the city’s violence prevention infrastructure.

3. Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Efforts

   Nearly 30% of K–12 students in Washington, D.C., public schools are chronically absent, according to data from the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education. A new initiative to share absenteeism data with healthcare providers is beginning to make an impact. Chronic absenteeism is a key indicator of educational inequities, and a significant number of school absences are linked to mental and physical health conditions, as well as socioeconomic and environmental factors. To address this, Beth Marshall, associate director of the Center for Adolescent Health, developed the Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Effort Playbook to help healthcare systems and school districts collaborate in getting students back into classrooms and ready to learn.
    

4. Housing for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

   Women who experience intimate partner violence are four times more likely to experience homelessness than those who do not. Recognizing this connection, in 2016 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development expanded its definition of homelessness to include individuals fleeing or attempting to flee violence. Michele Decker, Bloomberg Professor of American Health in the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Assistant Scientist Kristin Bevilacqua, and Bloomberg Fellow Janice Miller, and House of Ruth Maryland, worked to identify gaps in the data collected by the Department survey to ensure that more survivors of intimate partner violence have access to necessary services and housing.