Article Abstract

Online ISSN: 1099-176X    Print ISSN: 1091-4358
The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics
Volume 27, Issue 2, 2024. Pages: 59-62
Published Online: 1 June 2024

Copyright © 2024 ICMPE.

PERSPECTIVE
A Fireside Chat about Global Mental Health with Dr. Esther Duflo, Nobel Laureate in Economics

Benjamin Lê Cook¹* and Esther Duflo²

¹Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Director, Health Equity Research Lab, Cambridge Health Alliance,
Cambridge, MA, USA.
²Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.

Dr. Esther Duflo, Nobel Laureate in Economics, and co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) sat down with Dr. Benjamin Cook for a “fireside chat” at the 12th National Institute of Mental Health Global Mental Health Research Without Borders Conference. Dr. Duflo discussed J-PAL’s efforts to develop and test interventions for improving mental health and how cash transfer programs can be used to improve mental health. She also discussed the importance of using randomized control trials (RCTs) in shaping global mental health initiatives. Dr. Duflo shared insights from projects addressing loneliness among older individuals in India, secondary school scholarships in Ghana, and other studies that have informed social policies. Looking forward, she discusses climate change as a threat to the reductions in poverty realized in the last 30 years and encourages the expansion of networks of research and policy collaborations to improve global health.