Our comprehensive review and meta- analysis of these experiments find suggestive evidence of health benefits associated with investments in early life , income support , and health insurance interventions .
Housing and neighborhood trials had no effect on the outcomes included in the meta-analyses .
A positive effect of the trial on its primary socioeconomic outcome was associated with higher odds of reporting health improvements .
Early life , income , and health insurance interventions have the potential to improve health .
Policy Points Social policies might not only improve economic well-being , but also health .
Health policy experts have therefore advocated for investments in social policies both to improve population health and potentially reduce health system costs .
Since the 1960s , a large number of social policies have been experimentally evaluated in the United States .
Some of these experiments include health outcomes , providing a unique opportunity to inform evidence -based policymaking .
CONTEXT Insurers and health care providers are investing heavily in nonmedical social interventions in an effort to improve health and potentially reduce health care costs .
The effect of an early education program on adult health: the Carolina Abecedarian Project randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVES We explored whether a successful r and omized controlled trial of early education , the Carolina Abecedarian Project ( ABC ) , which enrolled infants from 1972 to 1977 at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in Chapel Hill , North Carolina , improved health outcomes and behaviors by 21 years of age . METHODS ABC r and omized 111 infants to receive an intensive early education program or nutritional supplements and parental counseling alone ; participants have been followed to the present day . We examined the effect of ABC on health outcomes and behavioral risk factors when participants were aged 21 years , and then explored the mediators of this relationship . RESULTS Relative to the control group , the ABC treatment group was previously found to have improved cognition and educational attainment . We found that the intervention also improved heath ( P = .05 ) and health behaviors ( P = .03 ) when participants were aged 21 years . These improvements in behaviors were not mediated by IQ , math and reading scores at 15 years of age , educational attainment , or health insurance . CONCLUSIONS Effective early education programs may improve health and reduce risky health behaviors in adulthood
Our comprehensive review and meta- analysis of these experiments find suggestive evidence of health benefits associated with investments in early life , income support , and health insurance interventions .
Housing and neighborhood trials had no effect on the outcomes included in the meta-analyses .
A positive effect of the trial on its primary socioeconomic outcome was associated with higher odds of reporting health improvements .
Early life , income , and health insurance interventions have the potential to improve health .
Policy Points Social policies might not only improve economic well-being , but also health .
Health policy experts have therefore advocated for investments in social policies both to improve population health and potentially reduce health system costs .
Since the 1960s , a large number of social policies have been experimentally evaluated in the United States .
Some of these experiments include health outcomes , providing a unique opportunity to inform evidence -based policymaking .
CONTEXT Insurers and health care providers are investing heavily in nonmedical social interventions in an effort to improve health and potentially reduce health care costs .