Unplanned pregnancies are most common among people with low incomes, or with jobs that do not provide health care coverage. In a post-Roe world, it will be these women, disproportionately women of color, who will no longer be able to choose an abortion, and will be unable to access the health care they need throughout their pregnancies and postpartum period. The health care workforce also will suffer, as states that ban or restrict abortion coverage are less likely to invest in training and employing reproductive health care providers who can counsel people on their full range of options in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. It is also likely that fewer providers will be trained in the reproductive health procedures that are needed to save women’s lives or in the aftermath of trauma or assault.
— Read on www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/loss-abortion-rights-will-send-shockwaves-through-us-health-care-system
The public health playbook: ideas for challenging the corporate playbook
We propose an initial eight strategies for this public health playbook: expand public health training and coalitions, increase public sector resources, link with and learn from social movements to foster collective solidarity, protect public health advocates from industry threats, develop and implement rigorous conflict of interest safeguards, monitor and expose corporate activities, debunk corporate arguments, and leverage diverse commercial interests.
— Read on www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(22)00185-1/fulltext
PeerTube
I’m curious about whether some version of PeerTube and… other things… could be used to cobble together a federated and more open version of an online learning environment.
A free software to take back control of your videos! With more than 100 000 hosted videos, viewed more than 6 millions times and 20 000 users, PeerTube is the decentralized free software alternative to videos platforms developed by Framasoft
— Read on joinpeertube.org/
“Every writing outing is a new chance to fail”
Be confident, but not cocky. All writing is an act of vanity. Which is why so many writers are insufferable jackasses. Because writing requires you to essentially say to the world, which is constantly in motion: “I have something to say, you need to sit still and listen.” It’s getting harder to get anyone to sit still for long, with all our distractions. So even if you’re a vainglorious prick, it shouldn’t be too hard to stay humble. Remember that even if you’re an old hand, and have been doing this for a while, every writing outing is a new chance to fail.
— Read on mattlabash.substack.com/p/on-writing
Polarisation and the network harassment of science journalists
“To be very honest, the harassment works to a degree,” said one reporter, who added that she has become less inclined to cover topics that she feels are likely to draw the ire of online trolls. “To the degree where it silences me on Twitter and limits the number of stories I want to write on these topics — it works.”
— Read on blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/05/13/polarisation-and-the-network-harassment-of-science-journalists/
How can researchers influence policy when their work lies outside the political mainstream?
a consistent theme was the need for researchers to listen to politicians and their staff regarding the political questions that were preoccupying them—and then to present their work in a form that offered answers to such questions. Another theme was the advantage for researchers of pursuing an influencing strategy that combines both an inside-track (seeking private meetings and ongoing relationships with policymakers in power) and an outside-track approach (applying political pressure by engaging the public in campaigning).
— Read on blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/05/09/how-can-researchers-influence-policy-when-their-work-lies-outside-the-political-mainstream/
Quick, but not dirty – Can rapid evidence reviews usefully inform policy?
What systematic reviews are NOT are literature reviews. They avoid cherry picking individual studies – consciously or not – that fit a preconceived idea or narrative. This attempt at comprehensiveness is important for policy: where research summaries on issues of national importance should avoid bias towards some studies and the exclusion of inconvenient research.
— Read on blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/04/27/quick-but-not-dirty-can-rapid-evidence-reviews-reliably-inform-policy/
What do general practitioners want from specialist alcohol and other drug services?
‘… this is not our bread and butter you see. So you’re not really, unless you’re really starting to focus on it, … you’re always a bit out of your comfort zone …’
— Read on onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13463
New paper with Hester Wilson and colleagues in Drug and Alcohol Review – worth a read.
Wilson, H., Schulz, M., Rodgers, C., Lintzeris, N., Hall, J., & Harris-Roxas, B. (2022). What do General Practitioners want from Specialist Alcohol and Other Drugs Services? A Qualitative Study of NSW Metropolitan GPs. Drug and Alcohol Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13463
Zotero for iOS
Zotero for iOS lets you work with your Zotero data no matter where you are
— Read on www.zotero.org/support/ios
Zotero for iOS is finally out of TestFlight and available for download. So far it’s been very useful, and you can do almost everything you’d want to on it. Definitely worth downloading if you have to read and manage a lot of sources.
Talent, not technology
often the most valuable output of research is ‘talent, not technology’. The ‘post-graduate premium’ that having a Masters qualification adds to starting salaries is evidence of this. But why is expertise so valuable? Experts don’t just know more than novices, they understand things differently, drawing on more abstract, ‘deeper’ representations.
— Read on blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2022/02/07/by-focusing-on-outputs-rather-than-people-we-misunderstand-the-real-impact-of-research/