Sean Valles

Philosophy of Population Health (eBook, ePUB)

Philosophy for a New Public Health Era

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Population health has recently grown from a series of loosely connected critiques of twentieth-century public health and medicine into a theoretical framework with a corresponding ¿eld of research-population health science. Its approach is to promote the public's health through improving everyday human life: afford-able nutritious food, clean air, safe places where children can play, living wages, etc. It recognizes that addressing contemporary health challenges such as the prevalence of type 2 diabetes will take much more than good hospitals and public health departments.

Blending philosophy of science/medicine, public health ethics and history, this book offers a framework that explains, analyses and largely endorses the features that de¿ne this relatively new ¿eld. Presenting a philosophical perspective, Valles helps to clarify what these features are and why they matter, including: searching for health's "upstream" causes in social life, embracing a professional commitment to studying and ameliorating the staggering health inequities in and between populations; and reforming scienti¿c practices to foster humility and respect among the many scientists and non- scientists who must work collaboratively to promote health.

Featuring illustrative case studies from around the globe at the end of all main chapters, this radical monograph is written to be accessible to all scholars and advanced students who have an interest in health-from public health students to professional philosophers.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 224
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. Mai 2018
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781351670777
• Artikelnr.: 56841601

Autorenporträt

Sean A. Valles is Associate Professor, jointly appointed to Michigan State University's Lyman Briggs College and Department of Philosophy, USA.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Blueprint of a philosophy of-and for-population health science
A brief overview
Introduction
What is population health science?
Why write a book on philosophy of population health science?
What will this book accomplish?
What are the book's philosophical methods and commitments?
What this book is not, and what it will not do
Onward
Section 1 What should health mean in population health science?
Chapter 2 A brief history of the social concept of health and its role in
population health science
Introduction
The biomedical model and the Biostatistical Theory of health
Population health as (metaphysically) social health
Health is (empirically) social
Conclusion: Moving toward a thoroughly social health concept of health
Case study: The Standing Rock Sioux Water Protectors
Chapter 3 Health as a life course trajectory of complete well-being in
social context
Introduction: The many debates over health's meaning
Life Course Theory
Life course lesson 1: Health is best understood as a lifelong phenomenon,
not in time slices
Life course lesson 2: Population health and individual health are best
understood as co-developing dynamically
The World Health Organization's definition of health, not what it seems
The WHO definition of health is not an operationalized tool for health
assessment; it is a toolbox that guides the gathering of tools
Making room for health pluralisms: metaphysical, empirical, ethical and
methodological
Conclusion: An updated health concept for an expansive population health
mission
Case Study: Addressing health disparities between Aboriginal Australians
and settler Australians
Section 2 Which causes and effects matter most in population health?
Chapter 4 Expanding the boundaries of population health
Introduction: health as life course of complete well-being in social
context calls for a broad health promotion mandate
Continuing from Chapter 3: 'Health issues' ¿ 'healthcare issues'
"Boundary problem" problems
Political theory and population health
An unnecessary philosophical assumption: If X becomes a public health
problem then it must be primarily or exclusively a public health problem
An incorrect empirical prediction: Broad conceptions of public health
predictably lead to harms to the public health professions or to the
populations they serve
The epistemic risks of erring on the side of wide vs. narrow boundaries for
public health
Conclusion: Expanding philosophy of population health to catch up with the
science and practice
Case Study: Global climate change
Chapter 5 Prioritizing the right population health causes and effects
Introduction: Addressing population health problems at the roots
"Fundamental-cause theory": the wrong name for the right approach
"Fundamental causes": Paramount importance because of a unique type of
stability
What is and isn't wrong with risk factors
Turning attention from "causes of cases" to "causes of incidence"
Philosophy of salutogenesis vs. philosophy of pathogenesis
Conclusion
Case study: Brazil's AIDS response
Section 3 How can population health science better promote health equity?
Chapter 6 Managing the inevitable trade-offs in population health science
practice
Introduction
The problem of heterogeneity: Lumping vs. splitting in population health
The high risk approach vs. the population approach
Decentering the healthcare system to promote population health vs.
expanding outward from the healthcare system
Evidence-based medicine vs. public health pragmatism
Conclusion
Case study: the heterogeneous health of migrants
Chapter 7 Ethics and Evidence in the Population Health Equity Debates
Introduction: Population health science and health equity
Health equity is built into population health science
The (real and imagined) consequences of an ambiguous understanding of
"health equity"
Equitable health promotion and health governance
Hypothetical problems' outsized influence in population health equity
deliberations
Conclusion
Case study: Investigating racism and racial health disparities
Conclusion
Chapter 8 Humility as the way forward for population health science, and
philosophy thereof
Introduction: A spirit of humility and collaboration
Embracing epistemic humility
Sectoral humility: Non-hierarchical intersectorality
Disciplinary Humility: Non-hierarchical interdisciplinarity
Population health science education for health professionals
Population health science education for all
Philosophy of population health science, from a position of service

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Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Blueprint of a philosophy of-and for-population health science

A brief overview

Introduction

What is population health science?

Why write a book on philosophy of population health science?

What will this book accomplish?

What are the book's philosophical methods and commitments?

What this book is not, and what it will not do

Onward

Section 1 What should health mean in population health science?

Chapter 2 A brief history of the social concept of health and its role in population health science

Introduction

The biomedical model and the Biostatistical Theory of health

Population health as (metaphysically) social health

Health is (empirically) social

Conclusion: Moving toward a thoroughly social health concept of health

Case study: The Standing Rock Sioux Water Protectors

Chapter 3 Health as a life course trajectory of complete well-being in social context

Introduction: The many debates over health's meaning

Life Course Theory

Life course lesson 1: Health is best understood as a lifelong phenomenon, not in time slices

Life course lesson 2: Population health and individual health are best understood as co-developing dynamically

The World Health Organization's definition of health, not what it seems

The WHO definition of health is not an operationalized tool for health assessment; it is a toolbox that guides the gathering of tools

Making room for health pluralisms: metaphysical, empirical, ethical and methodological

Conclusion: An updated health concept for an expansive population health mission

Case Study: Addressing health disparities between Aboriginal Australians and settler Australians

Section 2 Which causes and effects matter most in population health?

Chapter 4 Expanding the boundaries of population health

Introduction: health as life course of complete well-being in social context calls for a broad health promotion mandate

Continuing from Chapter 3: 'Health issues' 'healthcare issues'

"Boundary problem" problems

Political theory and population health

An unnecessary philosophical assumption: If X becomes a public health problem then it must be primarily or exclusively a public health problem

An incorrect empirical prediction: Broad conceptions of public health predictably lead to harms to the public health professions or to the populations they serve

The epistemic risks of erring on the side of wide vs. narrow boundaries for public health

Conclusion: Expanding philosophy of population health to catch up with the science and practice

Case Study: Global climate change

Chapter 5 Prioritizing the right population health causes and effects

Introduction: Addressing population health problems at the roots

"Fundamental-cause theory": the wrong name for the right approach

"Fundamental causes": Paramount importance because of a unique type of stability

What is and isn't wrong with risk factors

Turning attention from "causes of cases" to "causes of incidence"

Philosophy of salutogenesis vs. philosophy of pathogenesis

Conclusion

Case study: Brazil's AIDS response

Section 3 How can population health science better promote health equity?

Chapter 6 Managing the inevitable trade-offs in population health science practice

Introduction

The problem of heterogeneity: Lumping vs. splitting in population health

The high risk approach vs. the population approach

Decentering the healthcare system to promote population health vs. expanding outward from the healthcare system

Evidence-based medicine vs. public health pragmatism

Conclusion

Case study: the heterogeneous health of migrants

Chapter 7 Ethics and Evidence in the Population Health Equity Debates

Introduction: Population health science and health equity

Health equity is built into population health science

The (real and imagined) consequences of an ambiguous understanding of "health equity"

Equitable health promotion and health governance

Hypothetical problems' outsized influence in population health equity deliberations

Conclusion

Case study: Investigating racism and racial health disparities

Conclusion

Chapter 8 Humility as the way forward for population health science, and philosophy thereof

Introduction: A spirit of humility and collaboration

Embracing epistemic humility

Sectoral humility: Non-hierarchical intersectorality

Disciplinary Humility: Non-hierarchical interdisciplinarity

Population health science education for health professionals

Population health science education for all

Philosophy of population health science, from a position of service

Rezensionen

"What is most notable about this book is the way that the author skillfully and with great nuance explicates and distils the arguments of the many debates about population health and the determinants of health. [...] Professor Valles has skillfully drawn together and woven into a coherent framework a diverse set of literature dating back to the 19th century and the origins of social medicine. He does justice to the literature and acknowledges the importance of integrating elements of modern preventive medicine with a sustained explication of the work of Geoffrey Rose. He also highlights the significance of modern frameworks such as the WHO Social Determinants of Health Commission."

Ross Upshur (University of Toronto) for the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal

Valles deftly and compellingly responds to critics who see the turn to upstream determinants as overly broadening the domain of health and the purview of the medical and public health communities. [...] His work will be enormously useful to anyone eager for a thoughtful analysis of population health and it lays down a foundation for continuing conversations about what this exciting new field can and should be.

Christine A. Bachrach (Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science) for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

The book is very accessible; no prior knowledge in philosophy or population health is necessary, although it would be helpful at times. Therefore, I do not hesitate to recommend it to a broad readership. Any population health practitioner or theoretician interested in thinking about meaning, reasoning, and ethics in population health will benefit from reading Valles's arguments, whether she works primarily in health care or comes from a public health perspective. I think the book would be a particularly interesting choice for interdisciplinary courses in public health ethics and medical humanities programs. Graduate students should be aware of the growing literature at the intersection between philosophy and population health. May these ideas catch on and contribute to better health for all.
Olaf Dammann (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston) for the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH)