Download or read book Unhealthy Health Policy written by Arachu Castro and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 2004 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new collection turns a critical anthropological eye on the nature of health policy internationally. The authors reveal the prevailing social inequalities that often represent significant threats to the health and well being of the poor, ethnic minorities, and women. The authors define an anthropology of policy concerned with decision-making and the impact of health policy on human lives. It will be a critical resource for researchers and practitioners in medical anthropology, medical sociology, public policy, and public health care. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Download or read book Assessing the Economic Costs of Unhealthy Diets and Low Physical Activity written by Centers of Disease Control and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unhealthy diets and low physical activity contribute to many chronic diseases and disability; they are responsible for some 2 in 5 deaths worldwide and for about 30% of the global disease burden. Yet surprisingly little is known about the economic costs that these risk factors cause, both for health care and society more widely. This study pulls together the evidence about the economic burden that can be linked to unhealthy diets and low physical activity and explores - How definitions vary and why this matters - The complexity of estimating the economic burden and - How we can arrive at a better way to estimate the costs of an unhealthy diet and low physical activity, using diabetes as an example The review finds that unhealthy diets and low physical activity predict higher health care expenditure, but estimates vary greatly. Existing studies underestimate the true economic burden because most only look at the costs to the health system. Indirect costs caused by lost productivity may be about twice as high as direct health care costs, together accounting for about 0.5% of national income. The study also tests the feasibility of using a disease-based approach to estimate the costs of unhealthy diets and low physical activity in Europe, projecting the total economic burden associated with these two risk factors as manifested in new type 2 diabetes cases at 883 million euros in 2020 for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom alone. The "true" costs will be higher, as unhealthy diets and low physical activity are linked to many more diseases. The study's findings are a step towards a better understanding of the economic burden that can be associated with two key risk factors for ill health and they will help policymakers in setting priorities and to more effectively promoting healthy diets and physical activity.

Download or read book Care Without Coverage written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-06-20 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many Americans believe that people who lack health insurance somehow get the care they really need. Care Without Coverage examines the real consequences for adults who lack health insurance. The study presents findings in the areas of prevention and screening, cancer, chronic illness, hospital-based care, and general health status. The committee looked at the consequences of being uninsured for people suffering from cancer, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, heart and kidney disease, mental illness, traumatic injuries, and heart attacks. It focused on the roughly 30 million-one in seven-working-age Americans without health insurance. This group does not include the population over 65 that is covered by Medicare or the nearly 10 million children who are uninsured in this country. The main findings of the report are that working-age Americans without health insurance are more likely to receive too little medical care and receive it too late; be sicker and die sooner; and receive poorer care when they are in the hospital, even for acute situations like a motor vehicle crash.

Download or read book Unhealthy Politics written by Eric M. Patashnik and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How partisanship, polarization, and medical authority stand in the way of evidence-based medicine The U.S. medical system is touted as the most advanced in the world, yet many common treatments are not based on sound science. Unhealthy Politics sheds new light on why the government's response to this troubling situation has been so inadequate, and why efforts to improve the evidence base of U.S. medicine continue to cause so much political controversy. This critically important book paints a portrait of a medical industry with vast influence over which procedures and treatments get adopted, and a public burdened by the rising costs of health care yet fearful of going against "doctor's orders." Now with a new preface by the authors, Unhealthy Politics offers vital insights into the limits of science, expertise, and professionalism in American politics.

Download or read book U S Health in International Perspective written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

Download or read book Unhealthy Alliances written by Henry N. Butler and published by American Enterprise Institute. This book was released on 1994 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text calls the Health Security Act a nightmare for consumers and taxpayers. It forecasts the effectiveness of regional health alliances and analyses the political forces at play.

Download or read book Political And Economic Determinants of Population Health and Well Being written by Vincente Navarro and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-26 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of social inequalities in health continues its vigorous growth in the early years of the 21st century. This volume, following in the footsteps of Vicente Navarro's edited collection The Political Economy of Social Inequalities, is a compilation of recent contributions to the areas of social epidemiology, health disparities, health economics, and health services research. The overarching theme is to describe and explain the evergrowing health inequalities across social class, race, and gender, as well as neighborhood, city, region, country, and continent. The approach of this book is distinctly multi-, trans-, and interdisciplinary: the fields of public health, population health, epidemiology, economics, sociology, political science, philosophy, medicine, and history are all represented here.

Download or read book Unhealthy Work written by Peter L. Schnall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Work, so fundamental to well-being, has its darker and more costly side. Work can adversely affect our health, well beyond the usual counts of injuries that we think of as 'occupational health'. The ways in which work is organized - its pace and intensity, degree of control over the work process, sense of justice, and employment security, among other things - can be as toxic to the health of workers as the chemicals in the air. These work characteristics can be detrimental not only to mental well-being but to physical health. Scientists refer to these features of work as 'hazards' of the 'psychosocial' work environment. One key pathway from the work environment to illness is through the mechanism of stress; thus we speak of 'stressors' in the work environment, or 'work stress'. This is in contrast to the popular psychological understandings of 'stress', which locate many of the problems with the individual rather than the environment. In this book we advance a social environmental understanding of the workplace and health. The book addresses this topic in three parts: the important changes taking place in the world of work in the context of the global economy (Part I); scientific findings on the effects of particular forms of work organization and work stressors on employees' health, 'unhealthy work' as a major public health problem, and estimates of costs to employers and society (Part II); and, case studies and various approaches to improve working conditions, prevent disease, and improve health (Part III).

Download or read book Healthy Voices Unhealthy Silence written by Colleen M. Grogan and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-11 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public silence in policymaking can be deafening. When advocates for a disadvantaged group decline to speak up, not only are their concerns not recorded or acted upon, but also the collective strength of the unspoken argument is lessened—a situation that undermines the workings of deliberative democracy by reflecting only the concerns of more powerful interests. But why do so many advocates remain silent on key issues they care about and how does that silence contribute to narrowly defined policies? What can individuals and organizations do to amplify their privately expressed concerns for policy change? In Healthy Voices, Unhealthy Silence, Colleen M. Grogan and Michael K. Gusmano address these questions through the lens of state-level health care advocacy for the poor. They examine how representatives for the poor participate in an advisory board process by tying together existing studies; extensive interviews with key players; and an in-depth, first-hand look at the Connecticut Medicaid advisory board's deliberations during the managed care debate. Drawing on the concepts of deliberative democracy, agenda setting, and nonprofit advocacy, Grogan and Gusmano reveal the reasons behind advocates' often unexpected silence on major issues, assess how capable nonprofits are at affecting policy debates, and provide prescriptive advice for creating a participatory process that adequately addresses the health care concerns of the poor and dispossessed. Though exploring specifically state-level health care advocacy for the poor, the lessons Grogan and Gusmano offer here are transferable across issue areas and levels of government. Public policy scholars, advocacy organizations, government workers, and students of government administration will be well-served by this significant study.

Download or read book Unhealthy Times written by Hugh Armstrong and published by Don Mills, Ont. : Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Health and health care are at the pop of the public agenda, not only in Canada but throughout the world. Canada's most cherished social program -- health care -- is being transformed in many ways, some highly visible and others hidden from public view."--Cover.

Download or read book The Future of the Public s Health in the 21st Century written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-02-01 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Download or read book The Political Economy of Health and Healthcare written by Jalil Safaei and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2020 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Health may be defined as a state of balance in our body, mind and soul. When this balance is disturbed, so is our health. However, the balance in our health is fundamentally related to the balance in our society. Imbalances in our societies, particularly of a socioeconomic nature, would naturally affect our inner balance and health. Hence, this book argues that imbalances in the distribution of socioeconomic resources have led to inequities in health both within and between nations. It systematically explores the roots of inequalities in markets as the dominant distributive mechanisms in advanced capitalist economies to show their inherent biases against the poor and less powerful. It also describes the various social protections that have been put in place in the post-war era to protect the vulnerable among us, and documents how such protections have been rolled back with the rise of neoliberalism, especially after the recent financial crisis. It calls for social medicine, both in the sense of understanding health as the outcome of social conditions, and as the necessity of a collective approach for addressing health inequities through a social polity, as it contains the costs and sustains the healthcare systems.

Download or read book Pretty Unhealthy written by Nikki Stamp and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A heart surgeon and TV star investigates why our health is declining despite our obsession with fitspiration and the image of health. How have we messed up our relationship with food and exercise so badly? Despite an explosion in the number of gyms, health foods and activewear, we are more obese, less active, more stressed than ever before. We obsess over looking healthy, but our health is getting worse. Why did we start equating beauty with health? And is it possible to be fit and fat? Equipped with Instagram accounts and blogs, online 'wellness experts' lead an army of followers towards what is labelled 'health' but might actually be far from it. We photograph ourselves and our food, but aren't sure whether we like the images until someone else 'likes' them first. It seems all this health and wellness is making us unhappy, poor and pretty unhealthy instead. Heart surgeon and health commentator Dr Nikki Stamp unpicks the web of online pseudoscience and urges us to take back our health from the people who don't value it as much as we do. She explores the secret of long-term motivation for healthy diet and exercise, and shares the scientific value of self-kindness for true physical and mental health.

Download or read book Health Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-04-02 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two programs that provide benefits based on disability: the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. This report analyzes health care utilizations as they relate to impairment severity and SSA's definition of disability. Health Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination identifies types of utilizations that might be good proxies for "listing-level" severity; that is, what represents an impairment, or combination of impairments, that are severe enough to prevent a person from doing any gainful activity, regardless of age, education, or work experience.

Download or read book Why are Some People Healthy and Others Not written by Morris Barer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each topical chapter in this volume crystallizes the findings of a five-year study, under the auspices of the Population Health Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, that probed the links between social hierarchy, the -macroenvironmental- factors in illness patterns, the quality of the -microenvironmental, - and other determinants of health. In its aggregate, this volume will prove essential to an understanding of the underlying public health issues for the next several decades.

Download or read book Unhealthy Societies written by Richard G. Wilkinson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book and author to be featured on Channel 4 Equinox series Author is well-known in his field internationally Breaks new ground by explaining the relationship between equality and health Argues that the amount of income equality in a society is a powerful determinant of its average life expectancy - controversial PUBLICITY TITLE