Online Program

288033
US Health In International Perspective: Do Differences in Social Factors Explain the US Health Disadvantage


Monday, November 4, 2013 : 8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Paula Braveman, MD, MPH, Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

The Panel on Understanding Differences in Health Across High-Income Countries systematically considered a range of potential explanations for the pervasive U.S. health disadvantage observed across the vast majority of health outcomes and all age groups up to 75. This presentation will discuss the Panel's reflections on the likely contribution to the U.S. health disadvantage of a range of social factors including: poverty overall and child poverty in particular; child care and preschool participation; educational attainment and measures of K-12 educational performance; the strength of social safety nets; economic mobility; economic inequality; road safety and factors in the physical, social and built environments; and the role of policies and prevalent social values. The Panel concluded that no single explanation sufficed to explain the diversity of health outcomes on which the U.S. had a substantial advantage, and that multiple factors were likely to contribute and potentially to interact in complex ways.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe conclusions of the Panel on Understanding Differences in Health Across High-Income Countries regarding a range of social factors likely to contribute to the U.S. health disadvantage relative to other affluent nations.

Keyword(s): Public Health Policy, Public Health Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was part of the authoring committee that is the subject of this session.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.