Perspectives on Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health

Social factors, signals, and biases shape the health of our nation. Racism and poverty manifest in unequal social, environmental, and economic conditions, resulting in deep-rooted health disparities that carry over from generation to generation. In Perspectives on Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health, authors call for collective action across sectors to reverse the debilitating and often lethal consequences of health inequity. This edited volume of discussion papers provides recommendations to advance the agenda to promote health equity for all. Organized by research approaches and policy implications, systems that perpetuate or ameliorate health disparities, and specific examples of ways in which health disparities manifest in communities of color, this Special Publication provides a stark look at how health and well-being are nurtured, protected, and preserved where people live, learn, work, and play. All of our nation?s institutions have important roles to play even if they do not think of their purpose as fundamentally linked to health and well-being. The rich discussions found throughout Perspectives on Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health make way for the translation of policies and actions to improve health and health equity for all citizens of our society. The major health problems of our time cannot be solved by health care alone. They cannot be solved by public health alone. Collective action is needed, and it is needed now.Table of ContentsFront MatterIntroduction: Social and Structural Determinants of Health andHealth EquitySection I: Health Equity Research and Policy1 Health Inequities, Social Determinants, and Intersectionality2 Identifying and Implementing Opportunities to Realize HealthEquity Through a Lifespan Lens of Legal and Policy Research3 The Character Assassination of Black Males: Some Consequences forResearch in Public Health4 Promoting Positive Development, Health, and Social JusticeThrough Dismantling Genetic Determinism5 Philosophical Perspectives on Social Justice: A Framework forDiscussing a Children, Youth, and Families Health Policy andResearch AgendaSection II: A Systems Approach to Health Equity6 Expulsion and Suspension in Early Education as Matters of SocialJustice and Health Equity7 Lessons for Health Equity: Military Medicine as a Window toUniversal Health Insurance8 Principles of Adolescent- and Young-Adult-Friendly Care:Contributions to Reducing Health Disparities and Increasing HealthEquitySection III: Advancing Health Equity in Communities of Color9 Stories About Black Men in the Media and their Consequences forHealth10 Challenges and Promise of Health Equity for Native Hawaiians11 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in African American CommunitiesContinuing the Quest for Prevention12 Urgent Dispatch: Calling on Leadership to Respond to Violence inBlack Neighborhoods as a Public Health CrisisAppendix A: Paper AbstractsAppendix B: Agenda: Armchair Discussions of Social Justice andEquity Across the Life CourseAppendix C: Program of "Engaging Allies in the Culture of HealthMovement"Appendix D: Author Biographies