Engaging Low-Income Urban Residents in Prioritizing Interventions to Address Socio-Economic Determinants of Health

BACKGROUND:

There is a growing recognition that health status is only partially a function of health care. Socio-economic determinants of health, particularly income status and education, have significant effects on health status and outcomes. In light of these socio-economic determinants, several governments in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are adopting evidence-based policy recommendations for improving the health of their populations. Britain has conducted research that has been path breaking in identifying these determinants of health and in planning to address them. Canada has similar plans.

OBJECTIVE:

The goal of this project is to explore the possibility of designing public policies aimed at improving the health of urban low-income populations in the US. Toward this end, this project will engage health policy experts and low-income residents in an exploratory exercise aimed at designing an affordable, evidence-based intervention program targeted at addressing socio-economic factors and reducing health disparities among low income residents of Washington, DC. A three step process will be carried out:

1. Identification of candidate interventions that have been shown to ameliorate the socio-economic determinants of health, through literature review and consultation with experts;
2. Consideration of a reasonable per capita expenditure for the purpose;
3. Engagement of low-income residents to ascertain their priorities for publicly funding the proposed interventions within the assigned budget.