The Science of Influence, with Andy Slavitt and Katy Milkman

Changing people’s behavior is arguably the holy grail of medicine. To keep patients healthy, we ask them to do all sorts of things—come to their appointments, take their medications, get their vaccines. And beyond the clinic, we want them to exercise, eat healthily, get enough sleep, limit alcohol, avoid smoking, and lately wear masks and take COVID-19 tests. If we could collectively succeed at this kind of health-supporting behavior, we could solve a whole lot of the sickness and death that prescriptions and treatments alone can’t fix. But time and again, behavior change has proven incredibly hard to achieve. Why?

In this episode of Ahead in Health, Jodie Lesh digs into that question with Andy Slavitt, former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, author of the book “Preventable,” and host of the “In the Bubble” podcast; and Katy Milkman, behavioral economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, author of “How to Change,” and host of the podcast “Choiceology.” Together, they explain many of the complex factors that drive our choices, from misinformation to the conditions we face in our everyday lives. And they identify how health care could tap into the growing insights of behavioral science to help all of us live to our healthiest potential.