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SOLUTIONS CATALOG

Search SPARQ's practitioner-focused database of tested interventions for social problems. You can also add to the catalog yourself.

Acknowledging Social Class Helps First-Gen Students Excel

Problem

Students who are the first in their families to attend college struggle to keep up with their classmates from college-going families.

Solution

Acknowledging first-generation college students’ unique needs and empowering them to take advantage of university resources helps them adjust to college and earn better grades...

Storybooks Get Kids To Eat Their Veggies

Problem

More than one-third of American kids are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.  Junk food drives part of this obesity epidemic.

Solution

Storybooks that teach kids why they need different nutrients lead them to choose healthier snacks. 

Health
Children
Social Learning

Targeting Hypocrisy Promotes Safer Sex

Problem

More than 1 in 3 Americans have a sexually transmitted infection (STI), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Solution

Pointing out people’s hypocrisy causes them to practice safer sex.

Health
Adults
Self-Affirmation / -Threat / -Relevance

To Make Change, Start With A Crowd

Problem

It's hard to change people's behavior.

Solution

Changing the behaviors of an entire group of people can be easier than changing just one person at a time...

Education
Health
Adults
Conformity / Obedience
Social Learning
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RESEARCH CLINICS

Meetings with practitioners to share problems and solutions

Fighting Ebola With Film

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The latest Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed thousands of lives. In response, We Own TV, an NGO that trains people in Sierra Leone to create media, has launched a "Fighting Ebola with Film" series.

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Special Projects

Partnerships to create, test, and deploy social psych innovations

Changing Mindsets To Build Cultures of Health

Monday, December 15, 2014
Fruits and Veggies
The United States ranks #1 in the world in per capita health care spending, but ranks in the bottom half of wealthy nations in life expectancy, infant mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, obesity, and diabetes. Low-income and ethnic minority Americans bear a disproportionate amount of this disease burden. With a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, SPARQ is exploring an under-examined source of health disparities...
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Advanced Training

Learning opportunities that bridge theory and practice

Meet Our Fellows

Sunday, September 1, 2013

SPARQ trains scholars to bridge theory and practice to solve social problems. Learn more about our fellows here.

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