A supplement to the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM), funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, includes six articles and a broad array of commentaries that provide a fundamental understanding of the fact that where, we live, learn, work and play has as much to do with our health as the health care we receive.
The authors–including Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, David R. Williams, Michael G. Marmot and more–address factors beginning with early childhood education, to homes and communities, to the economic rationale for improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans. Together, the collection provides an in-depth look at why some Americans are so much healthier than others and why Americans are not the healthiest people in the world.
Articles include:
- “Strong Medicine for a Healthier America: Introduction”
- “Broadening the Focus: The Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health”
- “Healthy Starts for All: Policy Prescriptions”
- “Citizen-Centered Health Promotion: Building Collaborations to Facilitate Healthy Living”
- “Healthy Homes and Communities: Putting the Pieces Together”
- “When Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?”
- “The Economic Value of Improving the Health of Disadvantaged Americans”
Commentaries include:
- “Improving Health: Social Determinants and Personal Choice”
- “To Improve Health, Don't Follow the Money”
- “Businesses As Partners to Improve Community Health”
- “Strengthening the Public Research Agenda for Social Determinants of Health”
The AJPM supplement builds on the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America, which was charged with exploring how factors outside the health care system impact health and crafting recommendations to improve the health of all Americans. Members of the Commission’s research team and former staff director David R. Williams are among the authors discussing the rationale for the Commission’s 10-recommendation blueprint and the need for action to address the social determinants of health.