Despite the best of intentions, we often act at the last minute when we are faced with a deadline. A recent recommendation by the English National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to make In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) available to women up to 42 years of age instead of 39...

Financial incentives have been used in a variety of settings to motivate behaviors that might not otherwise be undertaken. They have been highlighted as particularly useful in settings that require a single behavior, such as appointment attendance or vaccination. They also have differential...

During Autumn 2009, individuals worldwide were confronted with a new risk, the H1N1 (swine flu) virus and vaccination programs aimed at reducing this risk. We examine the hypothesis that risk perceptions for H1N1 as well as optimism about one's own chances of contracting H1N1 vs. those of others...

While many risks, especially new ones, are not objectively quantifiable, individuals still form perceptions of risks using incomplete or unclear evidence about the true nature of those risks. In the case of well known risks, such as smoking, individuals perceive risks to be smaller for...

The sluggish development of European generic drug markets depends heavily on demand side factors, and more specifically, patients’ and doctors’ loyalty to branded products. Loyalty to originator drugs, to the point where originator prices rise upon generic entry has been described as the...

Background A healthy diet is associated with reduced risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a universal strategy to promote healthy diet through brief intervention in primary care. Methods The research was informed by a...

The LSE Companion to Health Policy covers a wide range of conceptual and practical issues from a number of different perspectives introducing the reader to, and summarising, the vast literature that analyses the complexities of health policy. The Companion also assesses the current state of the art.

The threat of a widespread avian flu influenza outbreak represented a significant public health challenge for the European region during late 2005 and early 2006. Little is known, however, about how individuals learn about new global-level health risks, especially influenza outbreaks. We...

A universal strategy to promote physical activity in primary care has the potential to increase life years lived free from physical disease. There is only weak evidence that a universal intervention strategy might prove cost-effective. </AbstractSection> Copyright The Author(s) 2014

The proliferation of new information and communication technologies such as the Internet has arguably changed the way individuals update the information they use to prevent illness and monitor their health. Compared with other information sources, Internet use reduces information access costs...