Main description:

Health and quality of life are vital social reflections. The way a society distributes resources amongst its population tells us a great deal about the society itself. This unique volume unites readings that explore the integral link between quality of life and public policy choices.

The first section discusses individual perspectives on health promotion and quality of life and provides a conceptual basis for determining an individual's or community's standard. The next section addresses community and policy perspectives to show how quality of life is related both to the health of the population as a whole, and to collective choices that determine how material resources are distributed in society.

Part three places quality of life and population health within a political economy framework and uses the social determinants of health concept to illustrate how societies differ in their willingness to support their members' quality of life and health. Part four examines vulnerable populations and their issues: the Indigenous community, persons with disabilities, women and the gender gap, and the effects of race and immigrant status on employment opportunities.

The final section suggests ways in which health promotion, quality of life, and the social determinants of health agendas can come together. It provides an up-to-date analysis of the barriers facing those attempting to improve quality of life and health, as well as the means to accomplish those goals.

Contents:

Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: Why Quality of Life? Why Health Promotion? - Dennis Raphael
Part I: Individual Perspectives
Chapter 2: Quality of Life Indicators and Health - Dennis Raphael, Rebecca Renwick, Ivan Brown, and Irving Rootman
Chapter 3: Quality of Life: What Are the Implications for Health Promotion? - Dennis Raphael, Ivan Brown, Rebecca Renwick, and Irving Rootman
Chapter 4: The Quality of Life Profile--Adolescent Version - Dennis Raphael, Ellen Rukholm, Ivan Brown, Pat Hill-Bailey, and Emily Donato
Chapter 5: Measuring the Quality of Life of Older Persons - Dennis Raphael, Ivan Brown, Rebecca Renwick, Maureen Cava, Nancy Weir, and Kit Heathcote
Part II: Community and Policy Perspectives
Chapter 6: Making the Links between Community Structure and Individual Well-being - Dennis Raphael, Rebecca Renwick, Ivan Brown, Brenda Steinmetz, Hersh Sehdev, and Sherry Phillips
Chapter 7: Community Quality of Life in Low-income Neighbourhoods - Dennis Raphael, Rebecca Renwick, Ivan Brown, Sherry Phillips, Hersh Sehdev, and Brenda Steinmetz
Chapter 8: What Do Canadian Seniors Say Supports Their Quality of Life - Toba Bryant, Ivan Brown, Tara Cogan, Clemence Dallaire, Sophie Laforest, Patrick McGowan, Dennis Raphael, Lucie Richard, Loraine Thompson, and Joyce Wong
Chapter 9: The Welfare State as a Determinant of Women's Health - Dennis Raphael and Toba Bryant
Part III: The Role of the Social Determinants of Health
Chapter 10: Bridging the Gap between Research Findings and Public Policy - Dennis Raphael
Chapter 11: Present Status, Unanswered Questions, and Future Directions - Dennis Raphael
Chapter 12: Maintaining Population Health in a Period of Welfare State Decline - Dennis Raphael
Chapter 13: The State's Role in Promoting Population Health - Dennis Raphael and Toba Bryant
Part IV: Vulnerable Populations
Chapter 14: Indigenous Well-being in Four Countries - Martin Cooke, Francis Mitrou, David Lawrence, Eric Guimond, and Dan Beavon
Chapter 15: The Impact of Race and Immigrant Status on Employment Opportunities and Outcomes in Canada - Cheryl Teelucksingh and Grace-Edward Galabuzi
Chapter 16: Employment and Persons with Disabilities in Canada - Canadian Council on Social Development
Chapter 17: A Call to Combat Poverty and Exclusion of Canadians with Disabilities - Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Chapter 18: Economic Gender Equality Indicators 2000 - Warren Clark
Part V: Moving Towards Action
Chapter 19: Barriers to Addressing the Social Determinants of Health - Dennis Raphael, Ann Curry-Stevens, and Toba Bryant
Chapter 20: Income and Health in Canada - Dennis Raphael, Ronald Labonte, Ronald Colman, Karen Hayward, Renee Torgerson, and Jennifer Macdonald
Chapter 21: Identifying and Strengthening the Structural Roots of Urban Health in Canada - Toba Bryant, Dennis Raphael, and Robb Travers
Chapter 22: Getting Serious about the Social Determinants of Health - Dennis Raphael
Conclusion
Chapter 23: Can Increasing Concern with Quality of Life Encourage Health Promoting Public Policy? - Dennis Raphael
Copyright Acknowledgments