The Political Determinants of Health

by Daniel E. Dawes, David R. Williams Narrated by David Marantz

Overview

Reduced life expectancy, worsening health outcomes, health inequity, and declining health care options-these are now realities for most Americans. However, in a country of more than 325 million people, addressing everyone's issues is challenging. How can we effect beneficial change for everyone so we all can thrive? What is the great equalizer?



In this book, Daniel E. Dawes argues that political determinants of health create the social drivers-including poor environmental conditions, inadequate transportation, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of healthy food options-that affect all other dynamics of health. By understanding these determinants, their origins, and their impact on the equitable distribution of opportunities and resources, we will be better equipped to develop and implement actionable solutions to close the health gap.



Dawes draws on his firsthand experience helping to shape major federal policies, including the Affordable Care Act, to describe the history of efforts to address the political determinants that have resulted in health inequities. Taking us further upstream to the underlying source of the causes of inequities, Dawes examines the political decisions that lead to our social conditions, makes the social determinants of health more accessible, and provides a playbook for how we can address them effectively.

Editorial Reviews

Doody's Review Service

Reviewer: Joan Ann MacEachen, MD, MPH (Loma Linda University)
Description: This book explores the concept that the American health system is ultimately determined by the US political structure. Recent research has uncovered behavioral, social, and environmental determinants underlying the inequities in health outcomes experienced by minorities. The book clarifies the interconnected aspects of the political processes affecting health care, such as voting, government institutions, and policy.
Purpose: This book attempts to look to the historic underlying structural and institutional reasons for these inequities and prove they are ultimately political in nature. The book outlines various aspects of the political system that can be addressed in order to improve outcomes. The author uses his expertise and experience to describe and analyze the passage and subsequent unraveling of the single most comprehensive healthcare reform in modern history: the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Audience: This book can be used as a road map for anyone interested in addressing health equity: community members; policymakers; current and future health professionals; social service professionals; behavioral health, public health, and health leaders, advocates, and academics. Author Daniel E. Dawes is an attorney and researcher who focuses on health inequalities. As director of Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, he is familiar with the literature and key policy activists and legislators involved in the current health environment. He presents the book's valuable information in a readable and organized format.
Features: The book gives concrete recommendations on election strategies, effective policy collaboration and techniques, and evaluation of competing political interests. As an example, Dawes details the structure and activity of an umbrella organization of over 250 diverse health advocacy groups during the development of the ACA. This organization developed and advocated strategy, drafted model legislative language, monitored and analyzed legislative proposals, and monitored the implementation of the provisions of the ACA. The author then evaluates the source and power of the resistance to change generated by the ACA, and its subsequent unraveling.
Assessment: The realization that American national security is menaced by poor health outcomes, exemplified by the fact that approximately 75% of young people aged 17 to 24 are unable to enlist in the military due to medical or social problems, underlines the importance of appropriate political interventions now. Dawes gives practical examples on the local, state, and federal level where informed advocates for healthcare equity can answer the call.

From the Publisher

An attorney, scholar, and health policy expert, Dawes is also a capable storyteller . . . Dawes is insistent: We're approaching an inflection point, and we can't afford to embrace a partial commitment to equality in health care. The final chapter of his book argues that the future of health equity begins and ends with the political determinants of health. What follows is a rallying cry to harness the political process to implement more equitable and inclusive health policies. As the COVID-19 pandemic underlines the ways in which our nation is sharply divided by racial and socioeconomic disparities, we need to address the political determinants of health or risk an incalculable setback.
—Leslie Erdelack, Health Affairs

The Florida Bar Journal - Claire Hancock

This is a must-read for all those who advocate toward a 'healthy, equitable, and inclusive society.'

New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy - Monica Unseld

This book deserves to be in classrooms, community reading programs, and government public health agencies. Although the 2016 elections were a setback for the health equity movement, Dawes has given us a rich and important resource for planning ahead.

Family Medicine - Kenneth W. Lin

Political Determinants of Health should be commended for packing an immense amount of theory, history, and health advocacy into a relatively concise text.

Health Affairs - Leslie Erdelack

An attorney, scholar, and health policy expert, Dawes is also a capable storyteller . . . Dawes is insistent: We're approaching an inflection point, and we can't afford to embrace a partial commitment to equality in health care. The final chapter of his book argues that the future of health equity begins and ends with the political determinants of health. What follows is a rallying cry to harness the political process to implement more equitable and inclusive health policies. As the COVID-19 pandemic underlines the ways in which our nation is sharply divided by racial and socioeconomic disparities, we need to address the political determinants of health or risk an incalculable setback.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175984614
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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