Why Are Some People Healthy and Others Not?: The Determinants of Health of Populations (Social Institutions and Social Change) [Paperback]

Theodore R. Marmor (Editor), Morris L. Barer (Editor), Robert G. Evans (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0202304906 | ISBN-13: 978-0202304908 | Edition: 1

Each topical chapter in this volume crystallizes the findings of a five-year study, under the auspices of the Population Health Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, that probed the links between social hierarchy, the “macroenvironmental” factors in illness patterns, the quality of the “microenvironmental,” and other determinants of health.  In its aggregate, this volume will prove essential to an understanding of the underlying public health issues for the next several decades. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The book is collectively written by several members of the Population Health Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. After many years of interaction, these authors, representing various disciplines (e.g., biological, cultural, social, economic), formulated ideas about both the determinants and measurement of health and the proper role of the health care delivery system… [T]he book focuses on strategies for improving human health both through the development of better evaluation and data systems, and by formulating better health policies while promoting efficient and effective management of the health care delivery system. General; undergraduate through professional.”

—H. S. Pitkow, Choice

“This volume is as much a challenge for political theorists as it is a collection for policy analysts; and it would be a shame if it were only to circulate within the realm of public policy.”

—Katherine Fierlbeck, Canadian Journal of Political Science

“[T]he book synthesizes the literature from many disciplines but presents a paradigm of health that is almost universally accepted in both academic and health policy circles: namely, that health is determined through the interplay of a host of varied factors, with medicine merely one of many potentially useful ones… [T]he book successfully emphasizes the possible contributions to the health of populations of resource reallocations from medical to non-medical activities… [T]he book effectively highlights the trade-offs between medical expenditures and other activities that may enhance health.”

—Peter C. Coyte, The Canadian Journal of Economics

“At the heart of this book lies a fundamental critique of two cornerstones of contemporary health policy: the role of modern medical care in the production of health, and the role of individual “life style choices” in the production of disease… Overall this book is both an invaluable resource for recent developed-country social epidemiology and a stimulating critique of received theories and observations in the social science of health and illness.”

—Constance A. Nathanson, Contemporary Sociology

About the Author

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Aldine Transaction; 1 edition (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0202304906
• ISBN-13: 978-0202304908
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The gold-standard on determinants of Population Health May 16, 1998

By [e-mail]

Format:Paperback

In the tradition of Dubos, McKeown, and Geoffrey Rose - but goes further and draws on recent data. By multiple authors. The early chapters make for exhilarating reading. "Producing Health, Consuming Health Care" by Evans and Stoddard in particular will be heavily cited for years to come. Later chapters, on implications for policy, come as a bit of a let down. Ultimately, the book is at its strongest in its account of what produces health but isn't as satisfying in its discussions of repercussions for practice.