Two Minds Blog

Last week at the bi-annual Ryan White Program Conference on HIV Care and Treatment, HIV care providers from across the country heard from the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services (DHHS), the head of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH. These experts highlighted a central fact of the HIV epidemic, which is that it has for the past 20 years been as much a result of gaps between intention and behavior as it has been a medical crisis. The HIV treatment cascade shown here illustrates the patient behaviors needed to successfully manage this chronic disease. First, people at risk for HIV can avoid infection through appropriate prevention behaviors, like using condoms or taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications. Once people are infected with HIV, they need to be tested in order to initate treatment. Then they must be linked to the care system, a barrier for younger people w

This video describes a study where people were asked to give an opinion, then to explain their thinking. But in some cases the researcher presented them with information that was the opposite of what they had said. Most people didn't notice the switch, and they then gave reasonable explanations for something that they didn't actually believe! This study shows the difference between intutive-level decision making in the moment, and narratives that explain or justify behavior later on. Special thanks to our colleague Dr. Priscilla Nodine at the CU College of Nursing for suggesting this TED Talk.