This brief outlines the challenges of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the pivotal role of individual decision-making in healthcare. It highlights behavioral biases influencing decisions and proposes a user's journey methodology rooted in behavioral economics to identify biases at key decision points, including the decision to be screened, appointment setting, attendance, and habit formation.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately one in seven people live with some form of disability, whether it’s physical, sensory, intellectual, or mental. It is estimated that this proportion will increase to one in five people in the next three decades due to the rapid aging of the population in the region. Having a disability is not uncommon; rather, it is an intrinsic part of our human diversity.
The digital transformation of health requires close collaboration between health and IT staff. For this, it is not necessary that doctors, in addition to knowing how the human body works, know how to cure viruses from their computers. It is enough for a small group of people to develop a language and a common understanding of a series of topics related to health and the computer world. And it is key that they do so. In this way advances and solutions are possible that improve the lives of millions of people, who would not otherwise be possible to reach.
During this Women’s Month, we have had the chance to reflect on the stark reality of female underrepresentation in positions of power. Data shows that one of the biggest gaps in representation is located at the top of organizations: women’s presence decreases as the hierarchy of positions increases. This lack of parity in leadership, whether in public or private organizations, fails to reflect the population governments serve or the clients that companies aim to attract.
In the region, teachers face the challenge of teaching reading and writing. Knowledge, ideas, classroom practices, myths, prejudices, and tensions are woven around literacy instruction. One of these tensions is related to teaching two critical skills for learning to read fluently: phonological awareness and the alphabetic principle.
In this paper, we document de facto, implicit, and explicit racial biases within the public employment service in Colombia. By combining administrative data about job seekers and job openings with direct surveys to job counselors, including a Race Implicit Association Test, we compute different types of racial bias. We find that while job counselors do not self-report biased attitudes against Afro-descendant individuals, the majority exhibit high levels of implicit bias, which also correlates strongly with observed lower referral rates of Afro-descendants to job openings.
Imagine embarking on the construction of a house, only to find that the carpenters, electricians, and plumbers are each following a different blueprint. The result? You might end up with a bathtub in your kitchen! Yet, this scenario isn’t far from reality when strong digital health foundations are lacking.
Programs that provide care for children are good for women’s economic activity. More than 95 percent of studies in low—and middle-income countries show this, and studies in high-income countries show a similar pattern. For example, providing preschool in Argentina boosted mothers’ full-time employment.
The gender earnings gap in Latin America is a barrier to achieving gender equality and sustainable development. In Ecuador, although there is no pronounced gender earnings gap at the aggregate level, an unexplained gap persists. Despite women often having a better labor profile than men, their income levels do not reflect this, suggesting the existence of gender biases. The total gap exists among informal sector workers, in rural areas, and among self-employed workers. Moreover, there is a heterogeneous income difference favoring men in most occupations.
The gender earnings gap in Latin America is a barrier to achieving gender equality and sustainable development. In Ecuador, although there is no pronounced gender earnings gap at the aggregate level, an unexplained gap persists. Despite women often having a better labor profile than men, their income levels do not reflect this, suggesting the existence of gender biases. The total gap exists among informal sector workers, in rural areas, and among self-employed workers. Moreover, there is a heterogeneous income difference favoring men in most occupations.