No research about us without us?

“Public health research often focuses on population data sets, which means the research can seem detached from the public itself,” writes Rod McCullom. Community-engaged research changes that dynamic by bringing people in the communities being studied into the research process—and it yields better results.

No research about us without us? → by Rod McCullom

Public health’s spirituality disconnect

Public health has “divorced” itself from spirituality—to the detriment of the diverse populations the field serves, argue Katelyn Long, David H. Rosmarin, and Howard Koh. They think it’s time for a reminder that “the vast majority of people in the world … identify with a religious or spiritual tradition,” and that public health outcomes are better when their traditions are acknowledged.

Public health’s spirituality disconnect → by Katelyn Long, David H. Rosmarin, and Howard Koh

Kids’ anxiety is on the rise. This book aims to help.

Mother-and-daughter duo Nicole and Clara Rura tackle My Magic Mind, a book and companion journal designed to help kids cope with their worries in short reading and writing sessions.

Kids’ anxiety is on the rise. This book aims to help. → by Nicole Rura and Clara Rura

Mpox offers another chance to confront vaccine inequity

Writing for Undark, Henna Hundal, Oyewale Tomori, and Simar Bajaj chart the sluggish response to mpox emergency in Africa and insist that it’s time to “rebalance global health priorities” and ensure equitable access to not only the mpox vaccine, but also other critical disease control efforts.

Mpox offers another chance to confront vaccine inequity → by Henna Hundal, Oyewale Tomori, and Simar Bajaj

Snapshot

After mass shootings or acts of terrorism, survivors often struggle with long-lasting psychological consequences.

PTSD in communities that have experienced mass violence →by Kynza Khimani

What we’re reading this week

U.S. recycled prosthetic limbs help Sri Lankan amputees walk again → Think Global Health

Oakland’s new school buses double as giant batteries → Grist

Patients suffer when Indian Health Service doesn’t pay for outside care → KFF Health News

Women who are blind play a critical role in identifying possible breast cancers → NPR

WHO delivers 14 tons of emergency supplies for mpox response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo → World Health Organization

Thanks to those of you who took our poll on social health styles last week. It turns out our audience is overwhelmingly made up of “fireflies”—59 percent of you said that you prefer deep conversations but need considerable recharge time afterward. Not a single reader who took our poll got the “butterfly” result.

For what it’s worth, your humble newsletter author is an “evergreen”—“someone who likes a lot of frequent interaction, and also deeper,” according to Kasley Killam in this Business Insider article.

—Jo Zhou