Promoting Health: Intervention Strategies from Social and Behavioral Research - Softcover

Institute Of Medicine; Division Of Health Promotion And Disease Prevention; Committee On Capitalizing On Social Science And Behavioral Research To Improve The Public's Health

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0309071755 ISBN 13: 9780309071758

Publisher: National Academies Press, 2000

Synopsis

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Americans enjoyed better overall health than at any other time in the nation’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 papersâ€"commissioned from some of the nation’s leading expertsâ€"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.

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• Introduction
• Findings and Recommendations
• Conclusions
• References
• Paper Contribution A: The Contribution of Social and Behavioral Research to an Understanding of the Distribution of Disease: A Multilevel Approach
• Paper Contribution B: Understanding and Reducing Socioeconomic and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Health
• Paper Contribution C: Preconception, Prenatal, Perinatal, and Postnatal Influences on Health
• Paper Contribution D: The Healthy Development of Young Children: SES Disparities, Prevention Strategies, and Policy Opportunities
• Paper Contribution E: Preadolescent and Adolescent Influences on Health
• Paper Contribution F: Behavioral and Social Science Contributions to the Health of Adults in the United States
• Paper Contribution G: The Behavioral and Social Dynamics of Aging Well
• Paper Contribution H: The Role of Mass Media in Creating Social Capital: A New Direction for Public Health
• Paper Contribution I: Public Health and Safety in Context: Lessons from Community-Level Theory on Social Captial
• Paper Contribution J: Legal and Public Policy Interventions to Advance the Population's Health
• Paper Contribution K: The Need for, and Value of, a Multi-Level Approach to Disease Prevention: The Case of Tobacco Control
• Paper Contribution L: Behavioral and Psychosocial Intervention to Modify Pathophysiology and Disease Course
• Committee Biographies

About this title

About the Author

Brian D. Smedley and S. Leonard Syme, Editors; Committee on Capitalizing on Social Science and Behavioral Research to Improve the Public's Health, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Edition details

• Publisher: National Academies Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0309071755
• ISBN 13: 9780309071758
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 508
• Editor: Sy S. Leonard Me, Smedley Brian D.