Nudge, nudge

The latest offering from the Government's Behavioural Insight Team (aka the Nudge Team) is Better choices, better deals, a paper which anticipates an increasingly consumer-empowered world. Amongst the health issues addressed is the role of the Public Health Responsibility Deal, a compact between government, food producers and retailers launched earlier this year with food-related pledges on labelling, salt content levels and use of transfats. An article in the British Journal of Healthcare Management makes a sober assessment of the science behind the nudge approach and considers whether clinicians and health sector managers should pay attention.