Promoting health

Promoting Equity in Health

Promoting equity in health is not an easy task. Current trends in the global economy, in the environment and in the scientific and technological development are all conducive to increasing disparities in exposure to risk factors for ill health as well as in access to health services. Indeed, available data point to increasing inequalities in health outcomes among countries and within countries ...

Promoting health literacy.

This report reviews some of the extensive literature in health literacy, much of it focused on the intersection of low literacy and the understanding of basic health care information. Several articles describe methods for assessing health literacy as well as methods for assessing the readability of texts, although generally these latter have not been developed with health materials in mind. Oth...

Promoting health in prison.

In previous articles I have set out the challenges of providing healthcare in prisons and have examined the problems in British prisons of elderly prisoners, women prisoners, and prisoners with mental disorders. In this final article of the series I highlight how prison contributes to the treatment of people who are “hard to reach.” Many British prisoners come from the most economically deprive...

Promoting Mental Health

Promoting health equity.

The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health brought the reduction of avoidable health inequalities between social groups to the centre of the political stage. Its three key recommendations—to improve daily living conditions; to tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources; and to measure and understand the problem—have been widely welcomed. As the commission itself...