The United States is one of the world's wealthiest nations, yet the health of average Americans lags behind that of citizens in other developed countries. The huge amounts we spend on health care are not buying our population good health. The reason is a widening gap between the health of rich and poor Americans.
References
1.
AchesonDonaldIndependent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report. London: The Stationery Office, 1998. This report summarizes a governmental inquiry into health inequality in the United Kingdom.
2.
BartleyMelHealth Inequality: An Introduction to Theories, Concepts and Methods. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Bartley provides an introduction to assessing health inequality, especially from the American perspective, directed at both social scientists and journalists.
3.
BerkmanLisa F.GlassThomas A.. “Social Integration, Networks and Health.” In Social Epidemiology, ed. BerkmanLisa F.KawachiIchiro. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. This chapter reviews the work on social networks and health.
4.
FrumkinHoward. “Minority Workers and Communities.”Occupational Medicine: State of the Art Reviews14 (1999): 495–517. This excellent study details the working conditions of minority workers in the United States.
5.
LinkBruce G.PhelanJo C.. “Social Conditions are Fundamental Causes of Disease.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior Special Issue (1995): 80–94. The authors review the connection between social and economic disadvantage, social networks and health.
6.
MarmotMichael G.“Health Inequalities Among British Civil Servants: The Whitehall Study.”Lancet337 (1991): 1387–93. This is an excellent paper on the longstanding Whitehall Study of Inequality in Health.
7.
United States Department of Health and Human Services.Health, United States, 1998 with Socioeconomic Status and Health Chart Book.Hyattsville, MD: United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1998. This government publication displays health statistics drawn from national surveys.
8.
WilsonWilliam Julius. The Truly Disadvantaged.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. A classic work on the influence of residential segregation in the United States.
