U.S. News & World Report: Good Relationships Are Good for Our Health
Capitol Hill's miserable work environment holds a lesson for our own health and well-being.
As Congress and the administration barely recover from the government shutdown and move to address challenging policy issues in a short-term funding extension, the importance of re-establishing strong, across-the-aisle relationships, which have historically allowed government to function, is clear. Bad relationships on Capitol Hill not only paralyze sound policymaking, they're also creating a truly unhappy environment: Witness the number of lawmakers retiring or refusing to run when their terms end this fall.
Sen. Joe Manchin – the West Virginia Democrat who has good relationships with the opposition – recently summed up his feelings about Congress: "This place sucks." The bad relations that now characterize administration and Congressional discourse may hold a lesson for our own health and well-being.
Faculty Referenced by this Article
Professor of Community Health Sciences & Health Policy and Management, and Associate Dean for Research
Dr. Michelle S. Keller is a health services researcher whose research focuses on the use and prescribing of high-risk medications.
Dr. Ron Andersen is the Wasserman Professor Emeritus in the UCLA Departments of Health Policy and Management.
Nationally recognized health services researcher and sociomedical scientist with 25+ years' experience in effectiveness and implementation research.
EMPH Academic Program Director with expertise in healthcare marketing, finance, and reproductive health policy, teaching in the EMPH, MPH, MHA program
