The Wisdom of Crowds?

David Colby, vice president of research and evaluation, writes about what you, our readers, selected as the most influential articles funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last year.

In December, we asked the public to vote on the most influential articles funded by the Robert Wood Foundation in 2009.  It was our second effort to draw outside feedback into our Year in Research process. What do you think about the wisdom of the crowd?  Did the crowd miss important articles or themes?  Did the Foundation miss funding some important articles?  Please join the discussions by posting your thoughts and comments below.

The articles receiving the most votes in 2009 are:

• Health Care and Public Service Use and Costs Before and After Provision of Housing for Chronically Homeless Persons with Severe Alcohol Problems;
• What Newly Licensed Registered Nurses Have to Say About Their First Experiences;
• A Closer Look at the Economic Argument for Disease Prevention;
• Association Between School Food Environment and Practices and Body Mass Index of U.S. Public School Children;
• Geographic Variation in Public Health Spending.

The wisdom of which crowds?  Last year, my picks and the picks of our readers were different. Last year, the picks of the nation and those from inside the Beltway were different. This year, the picks of single article voters and those who voted for more than three articles were different. Those who voted for more than three articles chose:

• A Closer Look at the Economic Argument for Disease Prevention;
• Association Between School Food Environment and Practices and Body Mass Index of U.S. Public School Children;
• Geographic Variation in Public Health Spending;
• Slowing the Growth of Health Care Costs - Lessons from Regional Variation;
• What Does It Cost Physician Practices To Interact With Health Insurance Plans?

Now you’ve seen the full results of the poll, I would love to hear from you about the crowd’s choices and our process. 

Comments

[Lee]

I tried to go to a health care meeting with my representative and could not hear him explain the bill because of all the people sent in to disrupt the discussion. I think this happened all over the country and was the reason no one heard what was being proposed.

[WR Pickard]

Obesity prevention AND REDUCTION will not happen without well designed programs that ensure a DAILY period of VIGOROUS physical exercise along with better diet and education in nutrition. Research is great - ACTION in schools is better. Make it fun, make it vigorous, make it a required credit in every year of the child's k-12 education.

[Dan Merrigan]

I was pleased to see that, A Closer Look at the Economic Argument for Disease Prevention (SH Woolf), received an elevated posting in the 2009 the RWJF-Year in Research “People’s Choice (sans Award)”.

It is heartening – especially in the current economic climate - when thoughtful research indicates that many preventive services provide good value for their costs. As these and related findings slowly disseminate and percolate across the landscape, I am hopeful that a more vocal national dialogue will ensue across sectors and ‘from the ground up’ about the importance of collective willingness to direct more of our limited resources toward protecting that which we value...good health and well being.