Stanford University

Health Outcomes

The Health Effects of Air Pollution: Evidence from Forest Fires

This study examined the link between exposure to particulate matter—a form of air pollution in which fine particles are suspended in the air—and adverse health outcomes for the elderly, who are hypothesized to be affected disproportionately.  In order to continue to determine environmental standards for pollution and to design effective public health warnings about pollution, an understanding of the health effects is needed. Such policies are particularly pertinent to the elderly, who might be socially isolated and less able to leave an area during a high-pollution episode.

Systematic Review: The Health Benefits and Harms of Gardening Among the Elderly

This meta-analysis evaluated the extent to which gardening among elderly adults is associated with specific health outcomes, including exercise capacity, body weight, serum lipids, fasting serum glucose and insulin, blood pressure, mental status, and gardening-related orthopedic injuries and exposure to infectious diseases. Searches of eight databases, including: PubMed, PsychInfo, AgeLine, ToxLine, Ovid, ERIC, CAB, and Cinhal resulted in identification of over 6,000 articles.

Eran Bendavid

Encina Commons, Room 102,
615 Crothers Way,
Stanford, CA 94305-6019

(650) 723-0984 (650) 723-1919
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Professor, Medicine
Professor, Health Policy
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Senior Fellow, Woods Institute for the Environment
eran_bendavid MD, MS

My academic focus is on global health, health policy, infectious diseases, environmental changes, and population health. Our research primarily addresses how health policies and environmental changes affect health outcomes worldwide, with a special emphasis on population living in impoverished conditions.

Our recent publications in journals like Nature, Lancet, and JAMA Pediatrics include studies on the impact of tropical cyclones on population health and the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in children. These works are part of my broader effort to understand the health consequences of environmental and policy changes.

Collaborating with trainees and leading academics in global health, our group's research interests also involve analyzing the relationship between health aid policies and their effects on child health and family planning in sub-Saharan Africa. My research typically aims to inform policy decisions and deepen the understanding of complex health dynamics.

Current projects focus on the health and social effects of pollution and natural hazards, as well as the extended implications of war on health, particularly among children and women.

Specific projects we have ongoing include:

  • What do global warming and demographic shifts imply for the population exposure to extreme heat and extreme cold events?

  • What are the implications of tropical cyclones (hurricanes) on delivery of basic health services such as vaccinations in low-income contexts?

  • What effect do malaria control programs have on child mortality?

  • What is the evidence that foreign aid for health is good diplomacy?

  • How can we compare health inequalities across countries? Is health in the U.S. uniquely unequal? 

     

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Increasing Physical Activity Among the Elderly: A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Pedometers

This study was the first to synthesize quantitatively the literature on the effectiveness of pedometers to change physical activity and health outcomes among the elderly.  Preliminary results were presented at the Stanford Prevention Research Center (March 2007) and at the Northern California regional Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Meeting (March 2007), where it won the award for best presentation.  The project was also presented at the International SGIM Meeting in Toronto in April 2007 and received a great deal of media attention.  The results of this study we

Health Insurance among the Elderly in Colombia

Relative to other age groups, the elderly are disproportionately likely to become seriously ill and to face burdensome medical expenditures.  Many middle-income countries like Colombia have begun experimenting with targeted public-sector health insurance.  By exploiting discontinuities in eligibility formulas for health insurance subsidies, this project evaluated the consequences of a large targeted health insurance program for the well-being of the elderly in Colombia.  The investigator presented his findings at a Research in Progress seminar in April 2008, and at the Univer

Grant Miller

Encina Commons Room 101,
615 Crothers Way,
Stanford, CA 94305-6006

(650) 723-2714 (650) 723-1919
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Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor
Professor, Health Policy
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Professor, Economics (by courtesy)
grant_miller_vert.jpeg PhD, MPP

As a health and development economist based at the Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Miller's overarching focus is research and teaching aimed at developing more effective health improvement strategies for developing countries.

His agenda addresses three major interrelated themes: First, what are the major causes of population health improvement around the world and over time? His projects addressing this question are retrospective observational studies that focus both on historical health improvement and the determinants of population health in developing countries today. Second, what are the behavioral underpinnings of the major determinants of population health improvement? Policy relevance and generalizability require knowing not only which factors have contributed most to population health gains, but also why. Third, how can programs and policies use these behavioral insights to improve population health more effectively? The ultimate test of policy relevance is the ability to help formulate new strategies using these insights that are effective.

Faculty Fellow, Stanford Center on Global Poverty and Development
Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Center for Latin American Studies
Faculty Affiliate, Woods Institute for the Environment
Faculty Affiliate, Interdisciplinary Program in Environment & Resources
Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions
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Closing the Quality Gap: A Critical Analysis of Quality Improvement Strategies

Project Goal
To create and apply a methodology for the review of quality improvement implementation strategies -- approaches to closing the "quality gap" between ideal and actual care -- in national priority areas identified recently by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). These priority areas were selected by the IOM based on the notion that most quality problems in health care arise not from a lack of effective clinical practices, but rather from inadequate delivery strategies for implementing these practices.

Global Analysis of Technological Change in Health Care (TECH)

The TECH project is an international collaboration aimed at understanding patterns of technology adoption and diffusion of medical care and the effects of these patterns on patient outcomes. The team, organized from 17 developed countries, is exploring whether individuals living in countries that rapidly adopted new revascularization technologies and clot-dissolving drugs are more likely to survive heart attacks than individuals living in countries that have adopted such interventions more slowly.

The TECH project has three specific goals:

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