Part 2 of two-part article published in Dec 2011 issue of Health Promotion International. Part 2 of this article documents the extent to which public policy activity that provides the prerequisites of health through public policy action differs among varying welfare state regimes.

This 45 minute lecture attempts to answer the question of why so little is done to address the social determinants of health when so much is known of their importance. Raphael posits that this inaction is largely due to the fact that the social determinants of health are themselves determined by policy decisions, and explores the politics behind these decisions.

In this excerpt from his new book, Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty, Mark Winne explains a growing split in the diets of the haves and have-nots; at the same time that the wealthy are coming to prefer organic and locally-grown foods, the poor have been losing geographical and economic access to healthy options. He also reports on a survey by the non-profit group Hartford Food System, which found that low-income consumers in the area would prefer to purchase organics and fresh foods, but simply couldn't access or afford them.

This paper is an outgrowth of ASTDN’s commitment to the elimination of health disparities and the achievement of health equity for all, and underscores the important role public health nurses play in eliminating inequities in health. Its purpose is to inspire public health nurses to serve as leaders and major contributing forces in the elimination of health inequities in the United States and its Territories.

This article makes the case that social reforms, not improvements in medical technology, have been largely responsible for the major improvements in population health over the past century. "Legislators, practitioners, and the public may deem it "heretical," but analysis of United States data shows that introduction of specific medical measures and expansion of services account for only a fraction of the decline in mortality since 1900. Even acknowledging that "mortality" and "health" are not synonymous, analysis of age- and sex-adjusted rates still suggests important trends and generates hypotheses for informed social action."

Available online by JSTOR subscription or purchase only.

In this study, the authors provide an overview of a broad range of existing measures that go beyond gross domestic product (GDP) to offer a more complete and accurate picture of how a society and its economy are faring. Particular attention is given to data still generally marginalized on the economic and social status of the majority of every society—women and children—and to how this correlates with both a nation’s quality of life and its economic success.  Based on a review of the literature and an analysis of major arguments and rationales for moving beyond GDP as a measure of national well-being, this report identifies 14 categories of national well-being. It synthesizes hundreds of indicators found in 28 reports1 that present alternative indices and systems of well-being into 79 indicators.

Prepared biennially since 1988, EPI's flagship publication sums up the problems and challenges facing American working families, presenting a wide variety of data on family incomes, taxes, wages, unemployment, wealth, and poverty — data that enables the book's authors to closely examine the impact of the economy on the living standards of the American people. The State of Working America 2006/2007 is an exhaustive reference work that will be welcomed by anyone eager for a comprehensive portrait of the economic well-being of the nation.

This report synthesizes the insights and recommendations of a group of leading academic researchers and advocates working at the intersection of transportation policy, equity, and public health identify opportunities for creating transportation systems that promote health and equity.

The Work, Family, and Equity Index has been developed to measure governmental performance around the world in meeting the needs of working families in general and and low- and middle-income working families in particular. The policies used to comprise the index have achieved widespread recognition based on the weight of the research evidence or consensus in global policy and international agreements.

This 2009 report prepared for presentation to the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Health Disparities presents 32 recommendations for strengthening communities, improving quality health care access, developing our health system, and supporting local efforts.

TFAH has identified 10 key policy areas where government action could improve the health of the U.S. population and lower the costs associated with treating people after they're already sick:

• Promoting Disease Prevention
• Combating the Obesity Epidemic
• Preventing Tobacco Use and Exposure
• Preventing and Controlling Infectious Diseases
• Preparing for Potential Health Emergencies and Bioterrorism Attacks
• Recognizing the Relationship Between Health and U.S. Economic Competitiveness
• Safeguarding the Nation's Food Supply
• Planning for Changing Health Care Needs of Seniors
• Improving the Health of Low-Income and Minority Communities
• Reducing Environmental Threats

And a crosscutting recommendation for:
• Holding Government Accountable for Protecting the Health of Americans

Focuses on urbanizations, particularly broad policy interventions related to healthy urbanization, and closely examines slum upgrading.

This is an interim report, submitted by the Urban Settings Knowledge Network to develop the Commission's final report in May 2008.

In this paper, the director and the administrator of the MacArthur Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health reflect on the evolution of the network. Against the backdrop of the science of “team science,” they describe the history and process of the network including the forging of a group agenda, the development of a creative, productive group working style, and the outcomes arising from these processes.

Wal-Mart is America's largest employer, yet pays poverty level wages, leaves over 775,000 of its workers without company health care, faces the largest gender discrimination lawsuit in the country, shuts down small businesses and helps ship jobs overseas. This campaign to change Wal-Mart is "a fight for what kind of America we want to live in. In our America, people come first. Multi-billion dollar corporations shouldn't be able to hide behind their special interest lobbyists and billion dollar ad campaigns. That is why we are building the largest grassroots campaign to change a corporation in history. By changing Wal-Mart, we improve people's lives, help our community and build a better America."

Growing recognition that the acute health care delivery system contributes proportionally less to health when compared with environment and behavior has focused scholars and public health experts on the need to address nonmedical determinants of health. This paper outlines some steps that the U.S. government can take to address these factors and describes some of the challenges involved. Actions that can be undertaken now are increased education and leadership,development of mechanisms to further collaboration among sectors,expanded monitoring and reporting on nonmedical determinants, and developing new knowledge about how these factors affect health and successful interventions to address them.

De Graaf, filmmaker, author, and national coordinator of the Take Back Your Time campaign, questions the heavy focus in the U.S. during recent decades on increasing GDP at the expense of our health and overall quality of life.

This report explains the framework of place (economic, social, physical, and service environments) to understand the relationship between community conditions and health, analyzes the connections among all the environmental factors that contribute to a healthy community, and identifies environmental effects on community health.

There is overwhelming evidence that social factors have profound influences on health. Children are particularly sensitive to social determinants, especially in the early years. Mounting an effective response to social determinants will involve both direct social policy initiatives designed to eliminate poverty and inequality, and indirect approaches focused on disrupting pathways between social risks and poor health outcomes. To be effective, these indirect strategies will require nothing short of a transformation of existing child health systems. Parents and professionals must work together from the ground up, raising public awareness about social determinants of health and implementing cross-sector place-based initiatives designed to promote positive health in childhood.