Karen A. Grépin

Bio: Karen A. Grépin is an academic researcher from University of Hong Kong. The author has contributed to research in topics: Public health & Medicine. The author has an hindex of 22, co-authored 90 publications receiving 1352 citations. Previous affiliations of Karen A. Grépin include Harvard University & Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong.

Women are most affected by pandemics - lessons from past outbreaks

Abstract: The social and economic impacts of COVID-19 fall harder on women than on men. Governments need to gather data and target policy to keep all citizens equally safe, sheltered and secure. The social and economic impacts of COVID-19 fall harder on women than on men. Governments need to gather data and target policy to keep all citizens equally safe, sheltered and secure.

Approaches and Alternatives to the Wealth Index to Measure Socioeconomic Status Using Survey Data: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

Abstract: Monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 requires the global community to disaggregate targets along socio-economic lines, but little has been published critically analyzing the appropriateness of wealth indices to measure socioeconomic status in low- and middle-income countries. This critical interpretive synthesis analyzes the appropriateness of wealth indices for measuring social health inequalities and provides an overview of alternative methods to calculate wealth indices using data captured in standardized household surveys. Our aggregation of all published associations of wealth indices indicates a mean Spearman’s rho of 0.42 and 0.55 with income and consumption, respectively. Context-specific factors such as country development level may affect the concordance of health and educational outcomes with wealth indices and urban–rural disparities can be more pronounced using wealth indices compared to income or consumption. Synthesis of potential future uses of wealth indices suggests that it is possible to quantify wealth inequality using household assets, that the index can be used to study SES across national boundaries, and that technological innovations may soon change how asset wealth is measured. Finally, a review of alternative approaches to constructing household asset indices suggests lack of evidence of superiority for count measures, item response theory, and Mokken scale analysis, but points to evidence-based advantages for multiple correspondence analysis, polychoric PCA and predicted income. In sum, wealth indices are an equally valid, but distinct measure of household SES from income and consumption measures, and more research is needed into their potential applications for international health inequality measurement.

HIV Donor Funding Has Both Boosted And Curbed The Delivery Of Different Non-HIV Health Services In Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract: Donor funding for HIV programs has increased rapidly over the past decade, raising questions about whether other health services in recipient-country health systems are being crowded out or strengthened. This article—an investigation of the impacts of increased HIV donor funding on non-HIV health services in sub-Saharan Africa during 2003–10—provides evidence of both effects. HIV aid in some countries has crowded out the delivery of childhood immunizations, especially in countries with the lowest density of health care providers. At the same time, HIV aid may have positively affected some maternal health services, such as prenatal blood testing. These mixed results suggest that donors should be more attentive to domestic resource constraints, such as limited numbers of health workers; should integrate more fully with existing health systems; and should address these constraints up front to limit possible negative effects on the delivery of other health services.

Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behaviour change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioural sciences can be used to help align human behaviour with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. Here we discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behaviour, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, we note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. We identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.