| Do social policies and political context matter for health in the United Kingdom? | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 14582870 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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This U.K. case study combines lessons from historical assessments with new empirical analyses of trends over the last decade to inform an appraisal of the impact of social actions on health. The empirical analyses examine life expectancy in the 354 local government councils in England by first identifying those that have better or worse health than expected fromtheir socioeconomic profile, and then selecting paired sets of "overachievers" and "underachievers" for more in-depth analysis. The findings taken as a whole provide evidence that social policies and political context do indeed matter for health. The historical material from the first industrial revolution, in particular, provides some of the most compelling evidence for this proposition. The empirical analyses over the last decade found a very powerful inverse association: the more deprived the local council, the lower the life expectancy of the population within that locality. However, even for the same level of deprivation and socioeconomic characteristics, some councils were doing much better than others in terms of health: for example, more than three years difference in life expectancy for carefully matched "urban fringe" councils. The article then examines the councils' political makeup and hence their likely policy perspective. |
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Authors:
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Tim Doran; Margaret Whitehead |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation Volume: 33 ISSN: 0020-7314 ISO Abbreviation: Int J Health Serv Publication Date: 2003 |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2003-10-29 Completed Date: 2004-02-12 Revised Date: 2004-11-17 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 1305035 Medline TA: Int J Health Serv Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 495-522 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Public Health, Liverpool, United Kingdom. timdoran@liverpool.ac.uk |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Great Britain
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epidemiology Health Services Research Health Status* Humans Life Expectancy* Politics* Public Policy* Socioeconomic Factors State Medicine |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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