The Association of Health Care Journalists has awarded its first AHCJ International Health Study Fellowships to four journalists who intend to pursue significant projects in the first half of 2019. The program, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, is meant to help veteran U.S.-based journalists compare elements of the U.S. health system with those of other countries.
The program for mid-career journalists is intended to give print, broadcast and online reporters an opportunity to study how one element of the U.S. health care system is handled in another country and to report on the differences. Fellows will be able to interview patients, health care providers and policymakers both in the United States and abroad.
The 2019 fellows will be:
- Arthur Allen, eHealth editor, Politico (@ArthurAllen202)
Allen will compare the implementation of health IT in the United States with efforts in Denmark and the United Kingdom.
- Karen Bouffard, health care reporter, The Detroit News (@kbouffardDN)
Bouffard will study what the United States might learn from Norway’s approaches to the overlap of mental health and criminal justice.
- Noam Levey, national health care reporter, Los Angeles Times (@NoamLevey)
Levey will examine whether Germany’s fairly recent shift in how it handles prescription drug pricing holds any lessons for the United States.
- Alex B. Smith, health reporter, KCUR-Kansas City/NPR (@AlexSmithKCUR)
Smith will study whether efforts in the U.K. to combat social isolation might serve as examples for similar cities, towns and rural areas in the United States.
The fellows will continue in their current jobs during the fellowship period, but also receive customized seminars, mentoring and financial support for field reporting. With the support of the program, and their own news outlets, they are expected to complete significant and unique reporting projects by mid-2019.
The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. With about 1,500 members across the United States and around the globe, its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The association and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism provide training, resources and a professional home for journalists. Offices are based at the Missouri School of Journalism.
The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. The Fund is based in New York City and has supported this fellowship program since it began.
