1932

Abstract

To improve health in the twenty-first century, to promote both access to and quality of health care services and delivery, and to address significant health disparities, legal and policy approaches, specifically those focused on civil rights, could be used more intentionally and strategically. This review describes how civil rights laws, and their implementation and enforcement, help to encourage health in the United States, and it provides examples for peers around the world. The review uses a broad lens to define health for both classes of individuals and their communities—places where people live, learn, work, and play. Suggestions are offered for improving health and equity broadly, especially within societal groups and marginalized populations. These recommendations include multisectorial approaches that focus on the social determinants of health.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032315-021926
2016-03-18
2024-06-02
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/publhealth/37/1/annurev-publhealth-032315-021926.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032315-021926&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Adams M. 1.  1997. Separate and [un]equal: housing choice, mobility, and equalization in the federally subsidized housing program. Tulane Law Rev. 71:413–86 [Google Scholar]
  2. 2. AHRQ (Agency for Healthc. Res. Qual.) 2015. 2014 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report AHRQ Publ. No. 15–0007 Rockville, MD: AHRQ http://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqdr14/2014nhqdr.pdf [Google Scholar]
  3. Anderson ED, Tremper C, Thomas S, Wagenaar AC. 3.  2013. Measuring statutory law and regulations for empirical research. Public Health Law Research: Theory and Methods AC Wagenaar, SC Burris 237–61 San Francisco: Jossey-Bass [Google Scholar]
  4. Barnert ES, Perry R, Wells KB. 4.  2014. Reforming healthcare for former prisoners. J. Gen. Intern. Med. 29:1093–95 [Google Scholar]
  5. Beracochea E, Evans D, Weinstein C. 5.  2010. Introduction: Why do rights-based approaches to health matter?. See Ref. 6 3–18
  6. Beracochea E, Weinstein C, Evans D. 6.  2010. Rights-Based Approaches to Public Health New York: Springer [Google Scholar]
  7. Braveman P, Dekker M, Egerter S, Sadegh-Nobari T, Pollack C. 7.  2011. Housing and health Issue Brief, May, Robert Wood Johnson Found. Comm. Build Healthier Am., Princeton, NJ. http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2011/rwjf70451 [Google Scholar]
  8. Brennan Ramirez LK, Baker EA, Metzler M. 8.  2008. Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social Determinants of Health Atlanta: Cent. Dis. Control Prev http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/healthycommunitiesprogram/tools/pdf/SDOH-workbook.pdf [Google Scholar]
  9. Brown PL. 9.  2013. Opening up, students transform a vicious circle. New York Times April 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/education/restorative-justice-programs-take-root-in-schools.html?_r=0 [Google Scholar]
  10. Burnim I. 10.  2015. The promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act for people with mental illness. JAMA 313:2223–24 [Google Scholar]
  11. Carson EA. 11.  2014. Prisoners in 2013 NCJ 247282, updated Sept., Bur. Justice Stat., Dep. Justice, Washington, DC. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf [Google Scholar]
  12. 12. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 1999. Ten great public health achievements—United States, 1900–1999. MMWR 48:241–43 [Google Scholar]
  13. 13. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2009. US public health service syphilis study at Tuskegee Updated Dec. 30, CDC, Atlanta. http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/index.html [Google Scholar]
  14. 14. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2014. The 10 essential public health services Updated May 29, CDC, Atlanta. http://www.cdc.gov/nphpsp/essentialservices.html [Google Scholar]
  15. 15. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2015. Health, United States, 2014: With Special Feature on Adults Aged 55–64 Hyattsville, MD: Natl. Cent. Health Stat http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus14.pdf [Google Scholar]
  16. 16. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2015. Intimate partner violence: definitions Updated June 19, CDC, Atlanta. http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/definitions.html [Google Scholar]
  17. 17. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2015. State school and childcare vaccination laws Updated March 23, Public Health Law Progr., CDC, Atlanta. http://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/vaccinations.html [Google Scholar]
  18. 18. CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2015. Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Updated July 13, CDC, Atlanta. http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html [Google Scholar]
  19. 19. CIA (Cent. Intell. Agency) 2015. The World Factbook Washington, DC: CIA https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2112rank.html [Google Scholar]
  20. 20. Cent. Popul. Democr 2013. Fatal Inequality: Workplace Safety Eludes Construction Workers of Color in New York State. New York: Cent. Popul. Democr http://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/publications/fatalinequality_report.pdf [Google Scholar]
  21. 21. Cent. Soc. Health 2014. Education: It Matters More to Health than Ever Before. Issue Brief, Jan., Robert Wood Johnson Found., Princeton, NJ. http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2014/rwjf409883 [Google Scholar]
  22. Cheng ER, Kindig DA. 22.  2012. Disparities in premature mortality between high- and low-income US counties. Prev. Chronic Dis. 9:E75 [Google Scholar]
  23. Chriqui JF, O'Connor JC, Chaloupka FJ. 23.  2011. What gets measured, gets changed: evaluating law and policy for maximum impact. J. Law. Med. Ethics 39:21–26 [Google Scholar]
  24. 24. Comm. Build Healthier Am 2009. Beyond Health Care: New Directions to a Healthier America. Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Found http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/reports/2009/rwjf40483 [Google Scholar]
  25. 25. Comm. Off., Minn. Dep. Health 2014. Advancing Health Equity in Minnesota: Report to the Legislature. St. Paul, MN: Minn. Dep. Health http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/healthequity/ahe_leg_report_020414.pdf [Google Scholar]
  26. Crenshaw KW, Ocen P, Nanda J. 26.  2015. Black girls matter: Pushed out, overpoliced and underprotected Presented at Afr. Am. Policy Forum, Columbia Law Sch. Cent. Intersectionality and Soc. Policy Stud., New York [Google Scholar]
  27. Cubbin C, Egerter S, Braveman P, Pedregon V. 27.  2008. Where we live matters for our health: neighborhoods and health Issue Brief, Sept., Robert Wood Johnson Found., Princeton, NJ [Google Scholar]
  28. David-Ferdon C, Simon TR, Spivak H, Gorman-Smith D, Savannah SB. 28.  et al. 2015. CDC grand rounds: preventing youth violence. MMWR 64:171–74 [Google Scholar]
  29. Davis K, Stremikis K, Squires D, Schoen C. 29.  2014. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, 2014 Update: How the US Health Care System Compares Internationally New York: Commonw. Fund http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror [Google Scholar]
  30. 30. Exec. Off. Pres 2014. A Year of Action: Progress Report on Raising the Minimum Wage. Washington, DC: Exec. Off. Pres https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/minimum_wage_report2.pdf [Google Scholar]
  31. 31. FBI (Fed. Bur. Investig.) 2014. Crime in the United States 2013. Unif. Crime Rep., Washington, DC. https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013 [Google Scholar]
  32. 32. FEMA (Fed. Emerg. Manag. Agency) 2008. Public health and medical services annex Emerg. Support Function (ESF) #8, Jan. https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1825-25045-8027/emergency_support_function_8_public_health___medical_services_annex_2008.pdf [Google Scholar]
  33. Foege W, Rosenberg M, Mercy J. 33.  1995. Public health and violence prevention. Curr. Issues Public Health 1:2–9 [Google Scholar]
  34. Ford M. 34.  2015. A new approach to criminal justice reform. Atlantic Oct. 22. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/police-prosecutors-reform-group/411775 [Google Scholar]
  35. Franklin JH, Higginbotham EB. 35.  2011. From slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans New York: McGraw-Hill [Google Scholar]
  36. Frieden TR. 36.  2013. Forward. CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report—United States, 2013. MMWR Surveill. Summ. 62:Suppl.1–2 [Google Scholar]
  37. García R, Fenwick C. 37.  2009. Commentary: Social science, equal justice, and public health policy: lessons from Los Angeles. J. Public Health Policy 30:S26–32 [Google Scholar]
  38. Gastelum JE. 38.  2011. How immigration activists are fighting deportation policy with social media. Mashable April 19. http://mashable.com/2011/04/19/immigration-activism-social-media/#kFmYE3__EZq6 [Google Scholar]
  39. Gostin LO. 39.  2000. Public health law in a new century: Part I: Law as a tool to advance the community's health. JAMA 283:2837–41 [Google Scholar]
  40. Gostin LO. 40.  2000. Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint Berkeley/Los Angeles: Univ. Calif. Press [Google Scholar]
  41. Gostin LO, Lucey D, Phelan A. 41.  2014. The Ebola epidemic: a global health emergency. JAMA 312:1095–96 [Google Scholar]
  42. Gostin LO, Monahan JT, DeBartolo MC, Horton R. 42.  2015. Law's power to safeguard global health: a Lancet–O'Neill Institute, Georgetown University Commission on Global Health and the Law. Lancet 385:1603–4 [Google Scholar]
  43. Hahn RA, Knopf JA, Wilson SJ, Truman BI, Milstein B. 43.  et al. 2015. Programs to increase high school completion: a Community Guide systematic health equity review. Am. J. Prev. Med. 48:599–608 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032315-021926
Loading
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032315-021926
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error