Policy Press
Fourteen Promoting public understanding of population health
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Stephen Bezruchka
Abstract
Arguing the science behind the new public health is one thing; getting policy makers and the public to listen is quite another. Most of the countries of the world today are either democracies or, through the influence of the major intergovernmental organisations, encouraged to pursue policies promoted by the leading democracies. This chapter calls the new public health ‘a scientific revolution in progress’ that is ‘resisted by both scientists and the general population’. It calls for a broad-based education effort, focused not just on the schools but also on community activism, the internet and the press. Citizens of the US, being less healthy than those in other rich countries, are the target group.
Abstract
Arguing the science behind the new public health is one thing; getting policy makers and the public to listen is quite another. Most of the countries of the world today are either democracies or, through the influence of the major intergovernmental organisations, encouraged to pursue policies promoted by the leading democracies. This chapter calls the new public health ‘a scientific revolution in progress’ that is ‘resisted by both scientists and the general population’. It calls for a broad-based education effort, focused not just on the schools but also on community activism, the internet and the press. Citizens of the US, being less healthy than those in other rich countries, are the target group.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures, tables, maps and boxes v
- Preface vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
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Differences in individual health behaviours
- The role of time preference and perspective in socioeconomic inequalities in health-related behaviours 9
- Examination of the built environment and prevalence of obesity: neighbourhood characteristics, food purchasing venues, green space and distribution of Body Mass Index 25
- Reinventing healthy and sustainable communities: reconnecting public health and urban planning 45
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Group advantage and disadvantage
- How and why do interventions that increase health overall widen inequalities within populations? 65
- The metaphor of the miner’s canary and black–white disparities in health: a review of intergenerational socioeconomic factors and perinatal outcomes 83
- From adversary to ally: the evolution of non-governmental organizations in the context of health reform in Santiago and Montevideo 97
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Psychosocial factors in individual health
- Health inequalities and the role of psychosocial work factors: the Whitehall II Study 115
- Inequality, psychosocial health and societal health: a model of inter-group conflict 131
- The social epidemiology of population health during the time of transition from communism in Central and Eastern Europe 143
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Healthy and unhealthy societies
- The impact of inequality: empirical evidence 159
- ‘Public goods’, metropolitan inequality and population health in comparative perspective: policy and theory 169
- Inequality and health: models for moving from science to policy 185
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Conclusions Public understanding of the new public health
- Promoting public understanding of population health 201
- Health, inequalities and mobilisation: human rights and the Millennium Development Goals 215
- What the public needs to know about social inequality and public health 231
- Index 237
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures, tables, maps and boxes v
- Preface vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
Differences in individual health behaviours
- The role of time preference and perspective in socioeconomic inequalities in health-related behaviours 9
- Examination of the built environment and prevalence of obesity: neighbourhood characteristics, food purchasing venues, green space and distribution of Body Mass Index 25
- Reinventing healthy and sustainable communities: reconnecting public health and urban planning 45
-
Group advantage and disadvantage
- How and why do interventions that increase health overall widen inequalities within populations? 65
- The metaphor of the miner’s canary and black–white disparities in health: a review of intergenerational socioeconomic factors and perinatal outcomes 83
- From adversary to ally: the evolution of non-governmental organizations in the context of health reform in Santiago and Montevideo 97
-
Psychosocial factors in individual health
- Health inequalities and the role of psychosocial work factors: the Whitehall II Study 115
- Inequality, psychosocial health and societal health: a model of inter-group conflict 131
- The social epidemiology of population health during the time of transition from communism in Central and Eastern Europe 143
-
Healthy and unhealthy societies
- The impact of inequality: empirical evidence 159
- ‘Public goods’, metropolitan inequality and population health in comparative perspective: policy and theory 169
- Inequality and health: models for moving from science to policy 185
-
Conclusions Public understanding of the new public health
- Promoting public understanding of population health 201
- Health, inequalities and mobilisation: human rights and the Millennium Development Goals 215
- What the public needs to know about social inequality and public health 231
- Index 237
