[EQ] When Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?

When Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?

Paula A. Braveman, , Susan A. Egerter, Steven H. Woolf,  James S. Marks
From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco (Braveman, Egerter), San Francisco, California; the Department of Family Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University (Woolf), Richmond, Virginia; and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Marks), Princeton, New Jersey

Am J Prev Med 2011;40(1S1):S58–S66 - 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Website: http://bit.ly/gWr6i7

“………..The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America was charged to identify strategies beyond medical care to address health disparities in the U.S. related to social and economic disadvantage.

 

Based on insights gained while providing scientifıc support for the commission’s efforts, this paper presents an overview of major issues that arise when assessing evidence to inform policies and programs to address the social determinants of health. While many of the insights are not new, they have not been widely assimilated within medicine and public health. They have particular relevance now, given growing awareness of the important health influences of social factors.

 

The discussion presented here is intended to highlight key considerations for researchers who study social determinants of health and policymakers whose decisions are shaped by research fındings. Policies should be based on the best available knowledge, derived from diverse sources and methods.

An array of tools and guidelines is now available to guide the assessment of evidence on the social determinants of health, building on—and going beyond—principles fırst articulated in the “Evidence-Based Medicine” movement.

The central thesis of the current paper is that the standards for evidence to guide social policies must be equally rigorous but also more comprehensive than those traditionally used to inform clinical interventions, because social policies must deal with upstream factors that affect health through complex causal pathways over potentially long time periods….”

 

Broadening the Focus: The Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health  

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 40, Issue 1, Supplement 1, January 2011, Pages S4-S18

Paula A. Braveman, Susan A. Egerter, Robin E. Mockenhaupt

Website: http://bit.ly/i6RG63

 

“…..While ensuring that individuals have access to appropriate medical care and information about health-promoting behaviors remains important, effective solutions also will require a broader focus on the contexts that powerfully shape both health behaviors and health itself. Much remains to be learned about which strategies are most effective, but current knowledge is suffıcient to indicate promising directions….”

 

Commission publications: http://www.commissiononhealth.org/Publications.aspx

 

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