Quasi-Experimental

This project aims to study whether laws that target reducing emissions from local polluting activities have distinguishable health impacts: What federal, state, and local regulations can reduce or shift electricity demand in New York City away from peak hours; how will local New York City power plants respond to that changing demand; and will those plant-specific responses have any significant health impacts for local populations?

In the United States, vaccinations against certain diseases are accepted as an important step in leading a healthy life and helping to keep other people from getting sick. It is not unusual to be required to show proof that you have had certain vaccinations before you are allowed to register for school or college, for example. But these common requirements for vaccination do not always extend to influenza—commonly known as flu—even for hospital workers who are at the most risk of exposure to the flu virus and who are likely to come into contact with people who are at a high risk of serious health complications if they were to become infected with the flu virus. This study will take a state-by-state inventory of laws that regulate influenza immunization among people who work in hospitals. Investigators will also review policies that individual hospitals and health systems might have to require their employees to receive a flu vaccination. The study will then match these findings with data on rates of vaccination among hospital workers to determine what, if any, effect such laws and policies have on vaccination rates.

The aims of this study are to assess: (1) whether state reporting laws for novel H1N1 influenza and emerging infections impact the ability of public health to collect data elements on individual cases, (2) whether state reporting laws for novel H1N1 influenza and emerging infections impact the ability of public health to develop recommendations for disease prevention, control, and treatment, and (3) the effect of “home rule” in a state’s infectious disease reporting structure on the state’s ability to develop such recommendations. The research team will conduct mapping and implementation studies by collecting data in three areas: legal authority, epidemiologic data collected on novel H1N1 influenza cases, and CDC and state recommendations. Methods will include an inventory of each state’s reporting laws/structure for emerging infections and interviews with state officials. Findings have the potential to impact law, public health policy, and epidemiology. Infectious disease reporting is the foundation for public health’s core functions in infectious disease prevention and control. Novel H1N1 influenza provides a critical example of the difference in states’ ability to promptly gather relevant data on a disease of national importance. This study has great public health significance because it is extremely important to understand the role law played in the differences among states. Law is a potentially modifiable factor and policymakers may choose to improve state laws if value is demonstrated. By addressing the proposed questions, we hope to assess the public health benefit/detriment of differing state authorities for reporting. Findings may impact policy by showing the effect of reporting laws on public health response and suggesting modifications to disease reporting laws that states may want to adopt.

While states have passed statutory rape laws for a variety of reasons, many of them have viewed these laws, in part, as a mechanism to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy.  This project will explore whether statutory rape laws, and the way in which they are enforced, contribute to a reduction in both teenage pregnancy rates and rates of various sexually transmitted diseases (STD).  The researchers will evaluate the general impact of statutory rape laws while appropriately accounting for the different ways in which states structure their statutory rape provisions.