Extensive research has shown that social factors are as important as biological ones in determining health, and their impact is enormous in both adults and children. The challenge of changing public policies and programs remains. Healthier Societies: From Analysis to Action addresses the fundamental questions which will lead the way toward countries investing seriously in improving social conditions, as a way of improving population health. The book is divided into three parts. Section one addresses to what extent health is determined by biological factors, by social factors, and more fundamentally, by the interaction between the two. Section two examines four case studies that demonstrate the ways in which social change can dramatically affect adults' health, as well as launch children's lives onto healthy trajectories. This section analyzes the cases of nutrition, working conditions, social inequalities, and geographic disparities. The third section of the book takes a serious look at what would be involved in translating the research findings described throughout the book into action.
Author(s): Jody Heymann et al.
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 448
Healthier Societies - From Analysis to Action......Page 2
Copyright Info......Page 6
Dedication......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 13
TOC......Page 15
About the Editors......Page 17
About the Contributors......Page 19
Failure to Address Social Underpinnings of Health......Page 28
Healthier Societies: An Overview......Page 29
Part I - The Complex Relationship between Social and Biologic Determinants of Health......Page 34
1- Interactive Role of Genes and the Environment......Page 36
The Multifactorial Nature of Human Disease......Page 37
Geographic Variation in Disease Occurrence and Migrant Studies......Page 38
Finnish Height Study......Page 40
The Thrifty Gene......Page 41
Coronary Heart Disease......Page 42
The Contribution of Geoffrey Rose......Page 43
Problems in Moving from Science to Society: Some Examples of Dif“culties in Genetic Program Implementation at the Population Lev......Page 46
On a Brighter Note: Promising Genetic Interventions......Page 51
Conclusion......Page 53
How the Environment Gets under the Skin......Page 60
Biological Embedding......Page 66
Current Theses about Biological Embedding......Page 68
Future Research Opportunities and Challenges......Page 76
3 - Global and Local Perspectives on Population Health......Page 83
Interpenetration of the Biological and the Social......Page 85
Local Biologies, Biological Diversity, and the Experience of Menopause......Page 86
Local Biologies, Embodiment, and Biological Diversity......Page 87
Implications of Variations in Menopausal Symptom Reporting......Page 89
The Origins of HIV Epidemics and Local Biologies......Page 91
Origins of the HIV Epidemic: Three Theories......Page 92
Comparative Epidemiology of HIV in West Africa......Page 94
Biological, Global, and Economic Factors Affecting HIV in West Africa......Page 96
Refugee Experience and the Politics of Suffering......Page 99
Trauma in Refugee Mental Health......Page 100
Medicine, Suffering, and Politics......Page 101
Conclusion......Page 103
4 - A Life Course Approach to Health and Human Development......Page 108
Understanding the Life Course......Page 112
Life Course and Society......Page 123
Conclusions......Page 125
5 - Universal Medical Care and Health Inequalities: Right Objectives, Insufficient Tools......Page 132
How We Approached These Questions......Page 135
What We Found......Page 138
Health Care and Population Health„ Reconsidering the Evidence......Page 146
Part II - An In-depth Look at Several Determinants of Health......Page 158
Food, Nutrition, and Health: A Population Perspective......Page 160
The Social Costs of Foodand Nutrition-related Diseases in Developed Countries......Page 165
Earliest Nutritional Effects and Later Outcomes during the Life Span......Page 170
Social Inequalities, Nutrition, and Health......Page 172
The Growing Problem of Poverty and Food Insecurity......Page 177
Food and Nutrition Policy in the Context of Globalization......Page 183
Conclusion......Page 186
7 - Work and Health: New Evidence and Enhanced Understandings......Page 198
Characteristics of Labor Market Experiences That Affect Health......Page 199
A Conceptual Framework Encompassing the Availability and Nature of Work......Page 200
The Biological Basis of Links between Work Experiences and Health......Page 203
The Transformation of Work......Page 207
Implications for Labor Market Policies......Page 215
Conclusion......Page 220
8 - Income Inequality as a Determinant of Health......Page 227
Wealthier Is Healthier for Individuals......Page 228
The Economic Inequality Gradient„What Is the Evidence?......Page 235
A "Natural Experiment"--Comparing Canada and the United States......Page 243
Conclusions and Conjectures......Page 255
9 - Role of Geography in Inequalities in Health and Human Development......Page 262
Location and Health: What Is Known?......Page 266
Durkheim and the Place of Social Facts......Page 271
Scaling Rose: Beyond Individual-level Approaches......Page 275
Generalizability and Paradoxes of Place......Page 279
The Way Forward......Page 284
Part III - Moving from Research to Policy......Page 290
10 - Social Welfare Models, Labor Markets, and Health Outcomes......Page 292
A Regimes Model of Welfare Distribution......Page 293
Data for Comparative and Longitudinal Analyses......Page 296
Results of the Comparative Analysis......Page 297
Longitudinal Analysis: The Swedish Case......Page 306
Conclusions and Recommendations......Page 316
11 - Changing Trends in Economic Well-being in OECD Countries: What Measure Is Most Relevant for Health?......Page 321
Economic Well-being, GDP per Capita, and Health......Page 322
An Index of Economic Well-being......Page 324
Estimates of Trends in the Overall Index of Economic Well-being......Page 339
Conclusion and Implications for Health......Page 345
12 - Reallocating Resources across Public Sectors to Improve Population Health......Page 352
Chronology of Health Reform and Regionalization......Page 353
Evaluation Activities......Page 356
Interpreting the PEI Experience: Ideas, Interests, and Institutions......Page 366
Final Re”ections on the PEI Experience......Page 368
13 - Taking Different Approaches to Child Policy......Page 373
Child Policies in Canada, the United States, and Norway......Page 374
Speci“c Examples of Child Policies......Page 378
Summary and Discussion......Page 395
14 - Where Do We Go from Here? Translating Research to Policy......Page 406
Research to Policy in General: What Does Theory Tell Us about the Use of Research?......Page 407
What Do Recent Experiences Demonstrate about Whether and How Research Is Used?......Page 410
Learning More about the Conditions under Which Research Is Likely to Be Used......Page 416
What Have We Learned?......Page 419
Measuring the Impact of Translation......Page 425
Conclusion......Page 426
Index......Page 430
