Many people say that money cannot buy anything. Though it would not make one eternally happy but to some it gives them power. Two new studies suggest how a penny grants power- the ability to heal faster.
Two studies were conducted which aimed to see the connection between monetary reward and improving health. According to lead researcher Dr David Asch, a professor of medicine and executive director of the Center for Health care Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania, "There's an enormous amount of enthusiasm for using financial incentives in healthcare settings. Our study shows that incentives can work, but you have to think carefully about how you design them."
The first experiment was tested to more than 600 pregnant women who were smoking. They were promised to receive six hundred dollars if they would quit smoking. 22.5 percent of the women who were bribed overcome their smoking addiction while only 8.6 percent of the group who did not receive any incentive continued their smoking habit.
Result shows that women who were bribed were more willing to stop their vice than those who were not offered money. The second study found that participants with bad cholesterol level (LDL) tend to change their habits which results to better health when both the doctors and patients were given financial prize. 36 to 40 percent decrease in the participants level of cholesterol was reported on the group were both the physician and the participant were rewarded compared to those were either only the physician or the patient was given a prize or no monetary reward was promised, which shows only 25 percent decrease in cholesterol level
The second study also found that an improve patient's health could be achieved more if both the patients and the physician will be rewarded. Andrea Troxel, lead statistician stated, "Patients whose physicians received financial incentives tended to have their cholesterol medication prescribed more intensively, but that also wasn't enough to change their LDL. " The researchers concluded that for the incentive to work effectively that it may yield to a positive result in the health of individuals; both the patient and the doctor should work together.
