What Works In Reducing Inequalities In Child Health

This revised edition of Helen Roberts' classic study of child health inequalities features new case studies, updated research references, and a new section on cost effectiveness—an important tool in an era of government spending cutbacks. Applying tools from a variety of disciplines and drawing on evidence from the UK and beyond, Roberts tests the effectiveness of public policy, community, and individual efforts to reduce health inequalities among children at different life stages—including infancy, early years, middle childhood, and adolescence—and to address the particular needs of disabled children.

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This revised edition of Helen Roberts' classic study of child health inequalities features new case studies, updated research references, and a new section on cost effectiveness—an important tool in an era of government spending cutbacks. Applying tools from a variety of disciplines and drawing on evidence from the UK and beyond, Roberts tests the effectiveness of public policy, community, and individual efforts to reduce health inequalities among children at different life stages—including infancy, early years, middle childhood, and adolescence—and to address the particular needs of disabled children.

This book draws on new and existing research to shed light on how children's experiences, at home and in schools, explain the extent to which they succeed as children and later as adults. Analysis indicates that there remains a strong link between the socio-economic circumstances into which a child is born and their adult outcomes. Children from lower socio-economic groups, born in the year 2000, have shown signs of falling behind their more advantaged peers by the age of three. It examines the risk factors for poor outcomes and discusses the need for policy that works across family and school.

Evidence indicates that actions within four main themes (early child development fair employment and decent work social protection and the living environment) are likely to have the greatest impact on the social determinants of health and health inequities. A systematic search and analysis of recommendations and policy guidelines from intergovernmental organizations and international bodies identified practical policy options for action on social determinants within these four themes. Policy options focused on early childhood education and care; child poverty; investment strategies for an inclusive economy; active labour market programmes; working conditions; social cash transfers; affordable housing; and planning and regulatory mechanisms to improve air quality and mitigate climate change. Applying combinations of these policy options alongside effective governance for health equity should enable WHO European Region Member States to reduce health inequities and synergize efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.