How Not To Hurt My In-laws This Thanksgiving

Lately, as I walk around New York City, I feel as though I am embodying a walking contradiction.

On one hand, by day, I work for the largest health and healthcare foundation in the country. I know the unequivocal personal and public health benefits of wearing marks, practicing physical distancing and avoiding crowds — particularly as weather changes and flu season rolls in.

On the other hand, I’m a person who craves community and diversity of opinions and experiences. I’m a mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend. …

With no in-person soccer practice and plenty of time for homework, I am finding once again that my 14 year old daughter has time to talk with me before bed. Usually, I spend this time listening, but a few weeks ago, she asked me a question — which has stuck in my mind ever since.

“Mom, what should I be worried about?”

My answer was quick, instinctive, and protective, “Oh, honey, you shouldn’t be worried about anything.”

Then I hugged her tight with tears in my eyes.

In the weeks since that conversation, as the impact and uncertainty of the…

Seven years ago, Sheena Iyengar came to talk to us at the Foundation about her book, The Art of Choosing. It was one of my first introductions to ideas like choice architecture, defaults and nudges. Her talk was as fascinating as it was informative — replete with stories from her research and the work of others (including my old professor, Barry Schwartz) about how relatively simple changes could have profound impact in people’s health and well being.

Among her stories, one has stuck with me all these years later. Sheena told us about a research study that looked at how…

Does the quality of our relationships affect our health?

Any of us, who has ever gone through struggles with our partners, children, parents, or colleagues know the answer is an obvious “Yes.”

How many of us today alone have tuned out to what someone was saying — distracted by thoughts about an argument, a misunderstanding or a hunch that something might not be right with someone we work with, live with or depend on. I often find myself in meetings not listening to a thing the presenter is saying with a pit in my stomach ruminating about the way I…

I want to tell you a success story.

Five years ago, when Uber, AirBnB, and Handy emerged as examples of companies who didn’t own or employ the products and services they were selling, our team invited the leading expert on the sharing economy, Rachel Botsman, to speak at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This was part of our What’s Next Health speaker series and our goal was for her to help us all think through the health implications of this emerging trend.

Rachel shared with us the key features of a market that is ripe for a sharing solution and…

Have you ever disagreed with your healthcare provider? Maybe about a diagnosis or a recommended treatment for you or your family member? If you disagreed with the advice, did you still take it? Or did you leave the prescription unfilled, the appointment with the specialist unscheduled?

While Americans largely report satisfaction with their own physicians, there is growing distrust in the American healthcare system. When you look inside the statistics, you see more distrust among certain segments of the population, including younger Americans and those with lower-incomes.

The Changing Doctor-Patient Relationship

I am the daughter of two doctors, and a childhood of family dinner…

I have a hunch that, if you tried something new, the most important meeting of your day could very well be one that has no clear objectives. One where people share incomplete thoughts and unformed ideas, where no problems actually get solved.

That meeting probably sounds like a nightmare to you. Because if you’re like me, you spend more time in meetings than you do actually getting stuff done.

They say time is our most precious resource. I believe this, and recognize that “too many meetings” is a problem my organization is trying to solve. So why did I call…

Afew years ago at SXSW, I joined my fellow festival attendees on the sidewalks of downtown Austin, Texas. As we walked past historic sites like Austin City Limits and the Alamo theater, we were all looking at one thing…our phones. In addition to the app that helped us understand what was happening where, festival attendees were tweeting with abundance and Instagram was blowing up!

When I looked up to check a street sign, I caught a glimpse of a rainbow in the sky. In my life, rainbows are a rare occurrence, and this was a sight to see! But as…