Learning Library

Our Learning Library is intended as a virtual resource center where professionals can go for a broad range of information relating to interoperability, information-sharing and the six domains in which NIC primarily works: human services, education, public health, public safety, health information technology and emergency services. We have vetted and aggregated numerous studies, guidance documents and other materials, which can be sorted in a variety of ways for easy access and use – and we will add resources continually over time. The Learning Library is available to all professionals interested in the subject matter.

To make the Learning Library as robust and beneficial as possible, we welcome recommendations of relevant content that users encounter elsewhere, that they have produced themselves or that they are already utilizing. Please fill out and submit the form below to provide your suggestions and comments, or send an email to info@stewardsofchange.org.

10-26-2018 Report

Systems Thinking as a Framework for Analyzing Commercial Determinants of Health

The high burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is politically salient and eminently preventable. However, effective solutions largely continue to elude the public health community. Two pressing issues heighten this challenge: the first is the public health community’s narrow approach to addressing NCDs, and the second is the involvement of corporate actors in policymaking. While NCDs are often conceptualized in terms of individual-level risk factors, we argue that they should be reframed as products of a complex system. This article explores the value of a systems approach to understanding NCDs as an emergent property of a complex system, with a focus on commercial actors.

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10-26-2018 Case Study

Population Health: The Translation of Research to Policy Case Study 3: Medical Marijuana as a Strategy to Reduce Opioid Overdose Deaths? Lessons from a Study of State Medical Marijuana Laws

A 2013 study that addressed the question, “Is legalizing medical marijuana an effective policy to reduce the rising tide of drug overdose deaths?”, through the comparison of overdose death rate trends in states that implemented medical marijuana laws and states that did not. The findings showed that states with a medical marijuana law had a mean 24.8% lower opioid overdose mortality rates

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