Where Health Disparities Begin: The Role Of Social And Economic Determinants—And Why Current Policies May Make Matters Worse
- 1 October 2011
- journal article
- Published by Health Affairs (Project Hope) in Health Affairs
- Vol. 30 (10), 1852-1859
- https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0685
Abstract
Health disparities by racial or ethnic group or by income or education are only partly explained by disparities in medical care. Inadequate education and living conditions—ranging from low income to the unhealthy characteristics of neighborhoods and communities—can harm health through complex pathways. Meaningful progress in narrowing health disparities is unlikely without addressing these root causes. Policies on education, child care, jobs, community and economic revitalization, housing, transportation, and land use bear on these root causes and have implications for health and medical spending. A shortsighted political focus on reducing spending in these areas could actually increase medical costs by magnifying disease burden and widening health disparities.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Economic Value of Improving the Health of Disadvantaged AmericansAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2011
- The Relative Health Burden of Selected Social and Behavioral Risk Factors in the United States: Implications for PolicyAmerican Journal of Public Health, 2010
- Socioeconomic Disparities in Health in the United States: What the Patterns Tell UsAmerican Journal of Public Health, 2010
- Avertable Deaths Associated With Household Income in VirginiaAmerican Journal of Public Health, 2010
- Central role of the brain in stress and adaptation: Links to socioeconomic status, health, and diseaseAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2010
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the VA Health Care System: A Systematic ReviewJournal of General Internal Medicine, 2008
- The Fall and Rise of US Inequities in Premature Mortality: 1960–2002PLoS Medicine, 2008
- Health and Economic Benefits of Reducing the Number of Students per Classroom in US Primary SchoolsAmerican Journal of Public Health, 2007
- Giving Everyone the Health of the Educated: An Examination of Whether Social Change Would Save More Lives Than Medical AdvancesAmerican Journal of Public Health, 2007
- Health Impact Assessment: A Tool to Help Policy Makers Understand Health Beyond Health CareAnnual Review of Public Health, 2007