Recent Posts

The Implications of Living in Poverty

Following some off-the-cuff comments from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, stories about the population of Americans living under the poverty limit as well as those living in more extreme measures of poverty have become more frequent in the past few weeks. Living in poverty has important implications for personal and societal well being.

Recession and Recovery

A report out of Rutgers University details the prevalence of Americans for whom their financial stability has been greatly affected by the 2007 – 2009 Recession. The information available from the Project on Societal Distress further details how the recession has impacted multiple areas of well-being of the American family beyond income.

Deaths in the U.S. Attributable to Social Factors (American Journal of Public Health, August 2011)

A study by Galea et al. published in the August edition of the American Journal of Public Health concludes that the estimated number of deaths attributable to social factors in the United States is comparable to the number attributed to pathophysiological and behavioral causes.

REACH U.S. Survey Provides Data on Health Disparities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 20, 2011)

The CDC conducts the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health across the U.S. (REACH U.S.) Risk Factor Survey annually in minority communities. The survey focuses on black, Hispanic, Asian (including Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander), and American Indian populations and is conducted in 28 communities located in 17 states.

County Health Calculator (VCU Center on Human Needs, April 2011)

The Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Human Needs, together with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have made available the County Health Calculator, an online simulation tool that shows how many lives would be saved if a county, state or the nation had the health benefits that exist in areas with higher levels of college education or income.