National Policy Association

   1424 16th Street, N.W.
       Suite 700
    Washington, D.C.
       20036-2229

     Tel: (202) 265-7685
    Fax: (202) 797-5516
   E-mail: [log in to unmask]


Income Inequality, Socioeconomic Status, and Health

The National Policy Association, in collaboration with the Association for
Health Services Research, is planning a project to explore the
interrelationships among health, income inequality, and socioeconomic
status in the United States and other industrialized countries.

Health care in the United States is, in many respects, the finest in the
world. The U.S. provides state- of-the art treatment, advanced technology,
and cutting edge research on the diseases and medical conditions that
affect mankind. However, despite leading all industrialized countries in
health care spending, the United States lags behind most other major
industrialized nations in health outcomes.

One reason for this situation may be related to income inequality and
socioeconomic status. Despite its wealth and the strength of its economy, the
United States has been and remains one of the most unequal of all
industrialized countries in how wealth and income are shared. Recent
research suggests a strong correlation between income distribution patterns
and health outcomes. Additional studies have found that health is highly
sensitive to the quality of the social environment and other socioeconomic
factors.

NPA and AHSR are bringing together the health research community with private
sector and government leaders to examine the implications of these findings
and to identify policies which could address the problem and improve U.S.
health
outcomes. Through seminars, commissioned papers, a national conference and a
publication, this project will promote discussion and bring public
attention to this critical and challenging issue.

For further information about this project, contact James Auerbach, NPA Senior
Vice President and project co-director, at [log in to unmask]

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Many of the researchers you refer to in your chapter will be participating
in our conference on "Income Inequality, Socioeconomic Status and Health",
April 27th in Washington, DC. There will also be a session on "Lifelines to
a Healthy Workforce" at a meeting of the National Policy Association's
Committee on New American Realities in Austin, Texas on April 14th, and
another session on the same topic at the Industrial Relations Research
Association's National Policy Forum on "Work and Family",June 22 at the
Omni-Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. We hope to have Richard Wilkinson
and Michael Marmot (UK) at the April 27 national conference, along with
many other leading researchers on this very
important topic such as Terry Sullivan and Clyde Hertzman from Canada, and
Bruce Kennedy, Ichiro Kawachi, Nancy Adler and David Williams from the US,
along with others.


James Auerbach, Senior Vice President
National Policy Association
1424 16 Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 884-7627 Tel.
(202) 797-5516 Fax
[log in to unmask]

Visit our Web Site for information about our Seniors Participatory and
Community Quality of Life Projects!  Free Reports Also.

  http://www.utoronto.ca/qol      http://www.utoronto.ca/seniors

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  Long have I looked for the truth about the life of people together.
  That life is crisscrossed, tangled, and difficult to understand.
  I have worked hard to understand it and when I had done so
  I told the truth as I found it.

  - Bertolt Brecht
  ********************************************************************

Dennis Raphael, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Associate Director,
Masters of Health Science Program in Health Promotion
Department of Public Health Sciences
Graduate Department of Community Health
University of Toronto
McMurrich Building, Room 101
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5S 1A8
voice:    (416) 978-7567
fax: (416) 978-2087
e-mail:   [log in to unmask]