Applying a Health Lens to Decision Making in Non-Health Sectors Workshop Summary (2014) / Chapter Skim
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2 How Social Policies Shape Health
2 How Social Policies Shape Health
Pages 5-12
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From page 5... ...
. Over the past century, dramatic improvements in health have been achieved through upstream interventions such as improved sanitation, improved working conditions and equipment safety, seatbelts in automobiles, road safety laws, initiatives to reduce drunk driving, elimination of lead in paint and gasoline, and the fluoridation of water.
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From page 6... ...
launched three major programs: Moving to Opportunity helped poor families move from high poverty public housing to better residential conditions; Jobs Plus sought to saturate public housing with high quality employment services and rent-based financial work incentives; and Bridges to Work was designed to link central city residents to suburban employment opportunities. An analysis of the HUD initiatives by the Urban Institute concluded that such interventions can increase income, improve safety and security, and improve physical and mental health (Turner and Rawlings, 2005)
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From page 7... ...
There is a policy opportunity for a major infusion of economic capital to improve the social, physical, and economic infrastructure of the disadvantaged communities that could have huge spillover effects on health, Williams said. EFFECTS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INTERVENTIONS Economic Well-Being Evidence suggests that social and economic policies intended to provide additional income to low-income individuals can also provide dramatic improvements to health, noted Williams.
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From page 8... ...
The opening of a casino on an Indian reservation provided additional income to American Indian residents of the community, but not to non-Indian residents. This natural experiment documented a decline in rates of deviant and aggressive behavior among adolescents whose families received additional income and showed that reduced rates of psychopathology persisted into adulthood when the adolescents had moved out of their parental home (Costello et al., 2003, 2010)
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From page 9... ...
41) who said that in the 171 largest cities in the United States, "the worst urban context in which whites reside is considerably better than the average context of black communities." Social policy can counter some of the negative effects of family structure on poverty and child health outcomes, Williams said.
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From page 10... ...
Educational Achievement It has been suggested that reducing the black-white academic test score gap would have a significant impact on reducing racial inequality in earnings and, in turn, would help to reduce racial differences in health, family structure, and crime (Jencks and Phillips, 1998)
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From page 11... ...
All policy that affects health is health policy, he said, and socioeconomic and racial or ethnic inequalities in health reflect the effective implementation of social policies that have reinforced such disparities. Eliminating disparities requires political will and a commitment to new strategies to improve living and working conditions, create opportunities to promote health for all, and remove barriers that make it nearly impossible for some Americans to make healthy choices.
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From page 12... ...
Most leading policy makers have never considered the social determinants of health, he said. For them, health policy relates to coverage and perhaps quality and cultural sensitivity, rather than to factors outside the health care system.
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