Working from home has its perks: Better coffee, easy commute, no fluorescent lighting. But, as any home office worker can tell you, there are also downsides: No more office social hours, no more ergonomic chairs, and no more quiet train rides to catch up on your podcasts. In this episode of the Better Off podcast, we’ll ask: Is working from home good or bad for our health?  

Guests

Eileen McNeely, Founder and Executive Director of SHINE, the Health & Sustainability Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

• Read a study by Eileen McNeely and SHINE researchers, exploring associations between the importance of well-being domains and the subsequent experience of well-being.
• Read an article by Eileen McNeely discussing business as a platform for human flourishing.

Bethany Barone Gibbs, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at West Virginia University

• Read a study by Bethany Barone Gibbs and other researchers who explored COVID-19's impact on sedentary behaviors.

Credits

Host/producer: Anna Fisher-Pinkert

The Better Off team: Kristen Dweck, Elizabeth Gunner, Pamela Reynoso, Stephanie Simon, and Ben Wallace

Audio engineering and sound design: Kevin O'Connell

Additional research: Kate Becker

As COVID-19 swept through American prisons and jails in 2020, wardens scrambled to keep prisoners and corrections officers from getting sick. One strategy was to increase solitary confinement. Health experts warn that solitary confinement increases the risk of mental illness and suicide, but the practice continues. Today, about 2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S. In this episode of the Better Off podcast, we'll ask: Is it possible to build a corrections system that accounts for their health and safety? 

Guests:

Jasmine D Graves, Ph.D. student, Population Health Sciences program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Monik Jimenez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Credits:

Host/producer: Anna Fisher-Pinkert

The Better Off team: Kristen Dweck, Elizabeth Gunner, Pamela Reynoso, Stephanie Simon, and Ben Wallace

Audio engineering and sound design: Kevin O'Connell

Additional research: Kate Becker

It’s estimated that half a million Americans are experiencing homelessness. Even a brief period of housing insecurity can make existing health issues worse, and bring up new physical and mental traumas. Doctors and nurses who help patients navigate these issues have a prescription: More housing, and more services. Is it possible to end chronic homelessness, even as eviction moratoriums end and rents increase? And is a housing-first model the best way to achieve that goal?

Guests:

Ana Rausch, Vice President of Program Operations at Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County

Kimberley Richardson, therapist

Maggie Sullivan, family nurse practitioner, Boston Health Care for the Homeless and instructor and human rights fellow, FXB Center, Harvard University

Credits:

Host/producer: Anna Fisher-Pinkert

The Better Off team: Kristen Dweck, Elizabeth Gunner, Pamela Reynoso, Stephanie Simon, and Ben Wallace

Audio engineering and sound design: Kevin O'Connell

Additional research: Kate Becker