Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health

Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health is a comprehensive exploration of the social factors that influence public health, including culture, mass media, political systems, and migration. The book, edited by Sandro Galea and featuring contributions from 33 expert authors, is divided into three sections.

The first section examines eleven distinct macrosocial determinants of population health, ranging from regulations and legal frameworks (global governance, patent law and policy) to broad global phenomena (globalization, migration, urbanization, and the media) and the specific roles of economic, political, and corporate policies and practices.

The second section delves into methodological considerations for studying the impact of macrosocial factors on population health. It provides insights on ecological studies and causal inference, and examines how to best investigate the overlapping roles of determinants at local, state, and national levels.

The third section presents a framework for interventions aimed at improving population health, along with innovative case studies that demonstrate this framework in action. Throughout the book, the contributors emphasize the potential of population-level strategies to influence traditional risk factors associated with health and disease.

Each section is bookended by Galea's integrative chapters, which bring the observations and conclusions from the preceding chapters into clear, actionable focus.

Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health is a work of significant theoretical, empirical, and practical importance for a wide range of disciplines, including public health, epidemiology, health promotion, sociology, and health policy. Its systematic, field-building approach makes it a valuable resource for both public health practitioners and scholars studying the health of populations.

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