Kevin Volpp
University of Pennsylvania, PA·Public Health & Epidemiology
People often know what they should do for their health, such as taking medication, exercising or getting screened, yet they still struggle to act. Behavioral economics studies how predictable quirks in human decision-making shape those choices.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Social Science
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
behavioral economics
health behavior change
older adults
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2029
What they work on
- Support research across the NIH Stage Model, from basic idea testing to dissemination, that translates behavioral economic concepts into better health behaviors and health for older adults.
- Cultivate tests of mechanisms of behavior change shared across health behaviors, and early-stage feasibility pilots, through the Behavioral Intervention Development Core.
- Support testing of promising early interventions at scale in research and community settings, using digital platforms, design thinking and dynamic adaptation to direct resources during trials.
- Collaborate with external health care organizations and companies to disseminate findings and implement effective behavioral economics interventions in real-world settings.
More about the research
It also studies how incentives, reminders and the way options are framed can nudge behavior. The central challenge here is to scale up: to move ideas that work in small studies into programs that improve the health of large numbers of older adults and help prevent premature aging.
Why it matters
Many health problems in aging adults are driven by everyday behaviors that are hard to change. Behavioral economics interventions that are tested on digital platforms and delivered with health care organizations and companies could help prevent premature aging. Proven approaches could reach large numbers of older adults in real-world settings, rather than remaining limited to small studies.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ronald Acierno
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX·Psychology
Select and support two to three pilot projects each year that develop behavioral interventions for elder mistreatment at stages 0–2 of the NIH Stage Model for Behavioral Intervention Development.
Laura Martin
University of Kansas, KS·Psychology
Test whether brief guided imagery using positive affect imagery (PAI) engages the brain's reward system and builds positive associations with exercise in mid-life adults.
Karen Barrett
University of California-San Francisco, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Standardize a prototype improvisation music therapy intervention designed for the pair of a person living with dementia and their care partner, using the NIH Stage Model and Science of Behavioral Change frameworks.
The school
University of Pennsylvania: 90 labs on PI Pages, $2.2B a year on research, 750 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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