Creating change in government to address the social determinants of health: how can efforts be improved?

BMC Public Health 2014, 14:1087. Published: 20 October 2014
doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1087

Author
Gemma Carey, Brad Crammond and Roybn Keast

Background
The evidence base for the impact of social determinants of health has been strengthened considerably in the last decade. Increasingly, the public health field is using this as a foundation for arguments and actions to change government policies. The Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach, alongside recommendations from the 2010 Marmot Review into health inequalities in the UK (which we refer to as the ‘Fairness Agenda’), go beyond advocating for the redesign of individual policies, to shaping the government structures and processes that facilitate the implementation of these policies. In doing so, public health is drawing on recent trends in public policy towards ‘joined up government’, where greater integration is sought between government departments, agencies and actors outside of government.

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