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Article Provides Argument, Blueprint for Policy Focus on Health Promotion
The case for increased focus on the relationship between behavior and health when framing public policy is clearly and compellingly articulated in an article appearing in the March/April issue of "Health Affairs."
Authors J. Michael McGinnis, Pamela Williams-Russo and James R. Knickman, all with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have distilled your scholarship into a classic call to arms -- one written in such a way that it can be understood and appreciated by readers in all sectors.
"The Case for More Active Policy to Health Promotion" sets the stage by explaining that medical care is only one of five determinants of population health. Of these five determinants, the authors note, the most important is behavioral choices: Unhealthy behavioral patterns have been estimated to account for 40 percent of early deaths in the United States.
Against this backdrop, the authors explore historic and current disincentives to addressing factors other than medical care, cite examples of successful health promotion initiatives, examine approaches to changing public policy and cite opportunities for progress in addressing the nonmedical determinants of health status.
The authors' challenge to refocus our health policy and spending on prevention and health promotion couldn't be more timely. As gaps in health insurance coverage, the soaring cost of medications and revelations of disparities in disease treatment vie for national attention, it serves as a potent warning to those who would skew our nation's health care system even further in the direction of treating disease.
We urge you to share this excellent article with your students, your colleagues, and anyone else who studies or helps forge public health policy.
The publisher of "Health Affairs," Project Hope, is providing a free link for HABIT readers until mid-May. To access the article, click here. After the link expires, go to www.healthaffairs.org or call (301) 565-7401 to obtain single reprints.
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