Social Epidemiology: Social Determinants of Health in the United States: Are We Losing Ground?

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dc.contributor.authorBerkman, Lisa F.
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-14T15:02:41Z
dc.date.available2019-08-14T15:02:41Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.description.abstractThe United States ranks in the lower tiers of OECD countries in life expectancy, and recent studies indicate that socioeconomic inequalities in health have been widening in the past decades. Over this period, many rigorous longitudinal studies have identified important social, behavioral, and environmental conditions that might reduce health disparities if we could design effective interventions and make specific policy changes to modify them. Often, however, neither our policy changes nor our interventions are as effective as we hoped they would be on the basis of findings from observational studies. Reviewed here are issues related to causal inference and potential explanations for the discrepancy between observational and experimental studies. We conclude that more attention needs to be devoted to (a) identifying the correct etiologic period within a life-course perspective and (b) understanding the dynamic interplay between interventions and the social, economic, and environmental contexts in which interventions are delivered.
dc.description.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100310
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/bspy-6ysv
dc.identifier.citationBerkman, Lisa F. (2009) Social Epidemiology: Social Determinants of Health in the United States: Are We Losing Ground? Annual Review of Public Health, 30 (1). pp. 27-41.
dc.identifier.issn0163-7525
dc.identifier.otherEprint ID 2619
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/23290
dc.subjectHealth Equity
dc.subjectDisparities
dc.subjectPolicy
dc.subjectinterventions
dc.subjectlife expectancy
dc.subjectsocioeconomic inequalities in health
dc.subjecthealth disparities
dc.subjectpolicy
dc.titleSocial Epidemiology: Social Determinants of Health in the United States: Are We Losing Ground?
dc.typeArticle

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