The Real Face of Men’s Health in America: Years of Life Lost, Yearning for Social Connection, and Eroding Trust in Health Care
In 2023, more than one-half of male deaths in the U.S. were premature: this is The Real Face of Men’s Health in America, a new report analyzing 2025 U.S. data from the Movember Foundation. The report was published as we approach November which the project chose for Men’s Health Month when launching in Australia over 20 years ago. Compared with the rest of the economically-developed world, Movember found that the “U.S. stands out for the sheer number of years of life lost (YLL), as well as the enormous toll of men’s early deaths
How’s Life? Around the World – In the U.S., It’s the Sadness That Stands Out
A new report from the OECD asks the question, “How’s Life?” with the tagline letting us know the plotline focuses on “well-being and resilience in times of crisis.” The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has tracked the well-being of member nations for the past six years, taking a broad view on the definition of holistic health — including physical, mental, financial, and social aspects of people living in OECD countries. The first “How’s Life?” report was published at the height of the global financial crisis; the authors of this report introduce it saying that, “the
The New Deaths of Despair in America – Among U.S. Children
The phenomenon of Deaths of Despair is the short-hand name for rising mortality among certainly people living in the U.S. due to overdose, accidents, and suicide. Angus Deaton and Anne Case published their first of many research papers on Deaths of Despair in 2015. Their research uncovered the risks of dying a Death of Despair to be higher among men, especially those between the ages of 25 and 64. But mortality isn’t only going in the wrong direction for those people most closely associated with the Deaths of Despair demographic: there’s another life-span line graph moving in the wrong direction,
The Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2023 Are About Social, Mental and Behavioral Health
Ten years ago, ECRI named the top 10 health technology hazards for 2013: they were alarm hazards, medication administrative errors using infusion pumps, unnecessary exposure and radiation burns from diagnostic radiology procedures, patient/data mismatches in EHRs and other HIT systems, interoperability failures with medical devices and health IT systems, and five other tech-related hazards. In 2014, ECRI pivoted the title of this annual report to “patient safety concerns,” a nuance away from health technology. Fast forward to 2023 and ECRI’s latest take on the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2023. While technology is embedded in this list, the headlines have more
The Number of Unintended Deaths From Car Accidents, Falls and Overdoses in America Grew 40% Between 1999 and 2017
The rate of deaths due to unintentional injuries in the U.S. grew by 40% between 1999 and 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Three mortality line items make up this overall statistic: Deaths from motor vehicle traffic injuries Deaths from unintentional drug overdoses (that is, not including suicides which are defined as “intentional”), and Deaths due to unintentional falls. The line graph illustrates the macro trend on the top-line, with the three specific causes underneath. You see deaths due to falls, motor vehicle accidents, and drug overdoses increased over the eighteen years. Drug overdose death rates began
Hackathons are intense, fast-paced events where interdisciplinary teams come together to solve complex problems. In this SEE YOU NOW Insight from Episode 46: What The Hack? I collaborated with inspiring nurse innovator Rebecca Love to discuss why it's critical to bring nurses into the hackathon mix to address some of the most pressing problems in healthcare.
I'm once again pretty gobsmackingly happy to have been named a judge for the 2026 CES Innovation Awards, focusing on digital health, longevity, and fitness. Preceding every year's global conference, CES receives hundreds of applications from innovators around the world building tech-based solutions to big challenges. So glad to be part of this annual initiative to see what global health-tech pioneers are cooking up to address and scale the health and well-being of fellow health citizens, globally.
You can see the results of the Digital Health Awardees here on the #CES2026 website.
Stay tuned to Health Populi in early January as I'll be attending Media Days and meeting with innovators in digital health, longevity, and the home-for-health during CES 2026 in Las Vegas. I'll be at the conference for an entire week meeting with clients and exhibitors at the biggest-meeting-of-the-year on consumer-facing technology. I'll be reporting daily from Vegas here in the blog, sharing with you insights about the latest breakthroughs, products, and services that enable people to manage health, well-being, and medical issues in their own hands and homes.