Documents Blane, David 3 results

"The chances of a long and healthy life are unequal: there are large differences between men and women, between members of different ethnic groups, between regions and between social classes. Health inequality is of increasing concern in all developed countries, forming one of the WHO's Health for All by the Year 2000 targets. In the UK the New Labour government has commissioned an independent inquiry into its causes and consequences. Health inequality has to be studied in a way that breaks down the boundaries between medicine and social science. This collection of papers reflects this concern. It represents the contribution of the social sciences: sociology, economics, psychology, geography and social policy, to the understanding and alleviation of health inequality. "

"There is a growing recognition that the most powerful determinants of health in modern populations are to be found in social, economic and cultural circumstances. Health and Social Organisation focuses on the determinants of health in developed countries, discussing the role of education, the workplace and the family. It considers the timing of major influences on health and questions whether there are special periods of vulnerability early in life or whether circumstances throughout life are equally important. The final section draws out the implications for policy and for links between health and economic performance, emphasizing the need for greater investment to combat the low educational standards and high unemployment which cause both poor health and poor economic performance."