Full Description
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Americans enjoyed better overall health than at any other time in the nationa (TM)s history. Rapid advancements in medical technologies, breakthroughs in understanding the genetic underpinnings of health and ill health, improvements in the effectiveness and variety of pharmaceuticals, and other developments in biomedical research have helped develop cures for many illnesses and improve the lives of those with chronic diseases. By itself, however, biomedical research cannot address the most significant challenges to improving public health. Approximately half of all causes of mortality in the United States are linked to social and behavioral factors such as smoking, diet, alcohol use, sedentary lifestyle, and accidents. Yet less than five percent of the money spent annually on U.S. health care is devoted to reducing the risks of these preventable conditions. Behavioral and social interventions offer great promise, but as yet their potential has been relatively poorly tapped. Promoting Health identifies those promising areas of social science and behavioral research that may address public health needs.
It includes 12 papersa "commissioned from some of the nationa (TM)s leading expertsa "that review these issues in detail, and serves to assess whether the knowledge base of social and behavioral interventions has been useful, or could be useful, in the development of broader public health interventions.
Contents
1 Front Matter; 2 Introduction; 3 Findings and Recommendations; 4 Conclusions; 5 References; 6 Paper Contribution A: The Contribution of Social and Behavioral Research to an Understanding of the Distribution of Disease: A Multilevel Approach; 7 Paper Contribution B: Understanding and Reducing Socioeconomic and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health; 8 Paper Contribution C: Preconception, Prenatal, Perinatal, and Postnatal Influences on Health; 9 Paper Contribution D: The Healthy Development of Young Children: SES Disparities, Prevention Strategies, and Policy Opportunities; 10 Paper Contribution E: Preadolescent and Adolescent Influences on Health; 11 Paper Contribution F: Behavioral and Social Science Contributions to the Health of Adults in the United States; 12 Paper Contribution G: The Behavioral and Social Dynamics of Aging Well; 13 Paper Contribution H: The Role of Mass Media in Creating Social Capital: A New Direction for Public Health; 14 Paper Contribution I: Public Health and Safety in Context: Lessons from Community-Level Theory on Social Captial; 15 Paper Contribution J: Legal and Public Policy Interventions to Advance the Population's Health; 16 Paper Contribution K: The Need for, and Value of, a Multi-Level Approach to Disease Prevention: The Case of Tobacco Control; 17 Paper Contribution L: Behavioral and Psychosocial Intervention to Modify Pathophysiology and Disease Course; 18 Committee Biographies
