Synopses & Reviews
Social Determinants of Health, 2E gives an authoritative overview of the social and economic factors which are known to be the most powerful determinants of population health in modern societies. Written by acknowledged experts in each field, it provides accessible summaries of the scientific justification for isolating different aspects of social and economic life as the primary determinants of a population's health.
The new edition takes account of the most recent research and also includes additional chapters on ethnicity and health, sexual behaviors, the elderly, housing and neighborhoods.
Recognition of the power of socioeconomic factors as determinants of health came initially from research on health inequalities. This has led to a view of health as not simply about individual behavior or exposure to risk, but how the socially and economically structured way of life of a population shapes its health. Thus exercise and accidents as as much about a society's transport system as about individual decisions; and the nation's diet involves agriculture, food manufacture, retailing, and personal incomes as much as individual choice. But a major new element in the picture we have developed is the importance of the social, or psycho-social, environment to health. For example, health in the workplace for most employees - certainly for office workers - is less a matter of exposure to physical health hazards as of the social envrionment, of how supportive it is, whether people have control over their work, whether their jobs are secure. A similar picture emerges in other areas ranging from the health importance of the emotional envrionment in early childhood to the need for more socially cohesive communities.
Social Determinants of Health, 2E should be read by those interested in the wellbeing of modern societies. It is a must for public health professionals, for health promotion specialists, and for people working in the many fields of public policy which we now know make such an important contribution to health.
Review
Review from the previous edition
"Excellent...[a] wide-ranging review of empirical evidence and discussion of its implications."--Chronic Diseases in Canada
"Marmot and Wilkinson have made a timely addition to the maturing field of health and health policy research. This volume should be relevant to anyone interested in health determinants, given its clear organization and concise writing."--Social Science and Medicine
"It is a dense, fascinating and wide-ranging collection...an excellent primer for those who wish to engage in the debate about how this policy can be taken forward to make a real difference to the lives of the people whose deprivations are analyses in its pages."--Health Matters
"The book surveys the effects of social inequality on health and offers a forum in which these can be linked with more obvious influences."--Times Higher Education Supplement
"At the core of The Social Determinants of Health is the groudbreaking Whitehall study...it found that wealth and status are the crucial factors in health and longevity."--The Guardian
Synopsis
Written by acknowledged experts in each field, it provides accessible summaries of the scientific justification for isolating aspects of social and economic life as the primary determinants of a population's health. The new edition takes account of the most recent research and also includes additional chapters on ethnicity and health, sexual behaviors, the elderly, housing and neighborhoods. Recognition of the power of socioeconomic factors as determinants of health came initially from research on health inequalities. This has led to a view of health as not simply about individual behavior or exposure to risk, but how the socially and economically structured way of life of a population shapes its health. Thus exercise and accidents are as much about a society's transport system as about individual choice. But a major new element in the picture we have developed is the importance of the social, pr psycho-social, environment to health. For example, health in the workplace for most emplyees - certainly for office workers - is less a matter of exposure to physical health hazards as of the social environment, of how supportive it is, whether people have control over their work, whether their jobs are secure. A similar picture emerges in other areas ranging from the health importance of the emotional environment in early childhood to the need for more socially cohesive communities.
Synopsis
This groundbreaking book, which brings together information in a singular way, provides an authoritative overview of the social and economic factors which are seen as the most powerful determinants of population health in modern societies. Written to link closely with the WHO Centre for Urban Health initiative on social determinants of health, it will provide the scientific justification for isolating different aspects of social and economic life as the primary determinants of health. Providing the background to ten 'key messages' which form the basis of the WHO campaign, the book will have a broad audience amongst public health professionals, health promotion specialists and health policy makers.
About the Author
Michael Marmot is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Director of the International Centre for Health and Society, at the University College London. His research interests centre on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease with a particular focus on alcohol, nutrition, and social and cultural determinants of disease.
Richard Wilkinson is visiting professor in the International centre for Health and Society at UCL and senior research fellow at the Trafford Centre for medical Research at the University of Sussex. He has been involved in research on the social and economic determinants of health for 20 years.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction,
Michael Marmot2. Social organization, stress and health, Eric Brunner and Michael Marmot
3. Early life, Michael Marmot and Suzie Butterworth
4. The life course, the social gradient and health, David Blane
5. Health and labour market disadvantage: unemployment, non-employment and job insecurity, Mel Bartley, Jane Ferrie and Scott M Montgomery
6. Health and the psychosocial environment at work, Michael Marmot, Johannes Siegrist and Tores Theorell
7. Transport and health, Mark McCarthy
8. Social supoort and social cohesion, Stephen A Stansfeld
9. Food is a political issue, Aileen Robertson, Eric Brunner and Aubrey Sheiham
10. Poverty, social exclusion, and minorities, Mary Shaw, Danny Dorlin and George Davey Smith
11. Social patterning of individual health behaviours: the case of cigarette smoking, Martin J Jarvis and Jane Wardle
12. The social determination of ethnic/racial inequalities in health, james Y Nazroo and David R Williams
13. Social determinants of health in older age, Anne McMunn, Elizabeth Breeze, Alissa Goodman, James Nazroo and Zoe Oldfield
14. Neighbourhoods, housing and health, Mai Stafford and Mark McCarthy
15. Social determinants, sexual behaviour and sexual health, Anne M Johnson, Catherine H Mercer, Jackie A Cassell
16. Ourselves and others - for better or worse: Social vulnerability and inequality, Richard G Wilkinson
Epilogue, Agis Tsouros