The Social Determinants of Health - 2nd Edition by Kathryn Strother Ratcliff & Linda Axtell-Thompson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The new edition of this popular introduction takes seriously the idea that health outcomes can be fully understood only by investigating the role the social world plays in our health. Ratcliff and Axtell-Thompson put into practice the "upstream" imagery championed by public health experts, locating the causes of health problems - and their solutions - within the social environment. Each chapter explains how the shape of social institutions, the unequal realities of community life, and the politics behind corporate and governmental decisions produce and perpetuate unhealthy living and working conditions. This new edition links more strongly to existing US and international policy frameworks on the determinants of health and pays greater attention to socioeconomic factors, education, climate change, and neighborhood disparities. Arguing that none of us should be placed in health-threatening situations that could be prevented, this provocative analysis uses social justice and human rights lenses to guide public discussion toward changes that can produce a healthier world for us all. It will continue to be invaluable to professionals and students in sociology, public health, and other fields related to health. The new edition of this popular introduction takes seriously the idea that health outcomes can be fully understood only by investigating the role the social world plays in our health. Ratcliff and Axtell-Thompson put into practice the "upstream" imagery championed by public health experts, locating the causes of health problems - and their solutions - within the social environment. Each chapter explains how the shape of social institutions, the unequal realities of community life, and the politics behind corporate and governmental decisions produce and perpetuate unhealthy living and working conditions. This new edition links more strongly to existing US and international policy frameworks on the determinants of health and pays greater attention to socioeconomic factors, education, climate change, and neighborhood disparities. Arguing that none of us should be placed in health-threatening situations that could be prevented, this provocative analysis uses social justice and human rights lenses to guide public discussion toward changes that can produce a healthier world for us all. It will continue to be invaluable to professionals and students in sociology, public health, and other fields related to health.

Review Quotes

"Kudos to the authors! This expertly researched and well-written second edition is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the principal causes and implications of human health outcomes. The blending of its social-environmental basis and sociological perspective renders this updated volume a unique and valuable addition to scholarship in both sociology and public health."
Professor Mary Zimmerman, University of Kansas School of Medicine

"What we breathe in, eat, and drink; where we work and live; how we travel - each, done badly, can damage health. The second edition of The Social Determinants of Health takes us on a wonderfully informative journey to examine the governmental and industrial causes of exposures that determine health."
Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Chair of the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2005-2008)

About the Author

Kathryn Strother Ratcliff is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Connecticut.
Linda Axtell-Thompson is Instructor of Health Care Administration at the University of Hawaii-West Oahu.