Population health
Population health is a concept focused on improving the health outcomes of specific groups of individuals, taking into account the factors that influence these outcomes. It encompasses various health-care fields, including policy-making and public health operations, with the primary aim of enhancing community health. Central to this concept is the idea of "health expectancy," which combines both the quality and quantity of life, and reflects the relationship between mortality and morbidity.
In recent years, the focus has expanded from merely understanding health outcomes to promoting activities associated with good health, such as exercise and nutrition, while reducing harmful behaviors like smoking. This shift emphasizes preventative measures as essential components of health improvement rather than relying solely on medical treatments.
Cultural, social, and geographic factors play a significant role in shaping the health conditions of populations, leading to varied disease incidence rates across different regions. The recognition of these diversities drives health-care agencies to implement tailored health promotion strategies. As a result, population health is not only about managing diseases but also involves fostering a holistic approach to well-being, understanding that an individual's health is influenced by their environment and lifestyle choices.
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Subject Terms
Population health
Health researchers identify population health as the improvement of the health of specific populations, which can be directly determined by the amount of health-care services individuals require and the reduction in per capita costs for providing health care to a specific population. Population health refers to various health-care fields, including policymaking processes and operations of public-health agencies, aimed toward improving the health outcomes of a target community. The different components of population health often overlap because of the common goal of improving public health. The main indicator of improved health is extending "health expectancy," which is the sum of both the quantity and the quality of life of an individual. The topic of health expectancy was initially presented in the 1960s, and its definition has evolved over time.
Background
Healthy life expectancy incorporates two major factors: mortality (incidence of death) and morbidity (incidence of disease or illness). In the aging population, improved health outcomes are indicated by a decrease in mortality, though morbidity does not necessarily decrease in the same way. In the 1980s, various health-care-related organizations focused on establishing the correlation between mortality and morbidity. Their main objective was to determine whether the factors that decrease the mortality rate in the aging population have a similar impact on morbidity. Certain analysts argued that the increase in life expectancy observed in older adults, which is translated as a decrease in mortality, is mainly the result of a delay in the development of chronic conditions to the last few years of their lives (described as a compression of morbidity). These chronic conditions may include a loss of function or the development of a particular disability, thereby slowing down the activities of an elderly individual.
Other analysts have also argued that the significant improvements in life expectancy are largely attributable to preventative measures and not to breakthroughs in the medical field. These analysts claim that preventative measures directly save lives and maintain a healthy condition, thereby delaying the occurrence of disease.
Topic Today
In the early 2000s, the term "population health" pertained to the health outcomes of a specific group of individuals, including trends in the distribution of such outcomes across the entire group. The term "outcomes" focuses on the improvement of health conditions. Around ten years later, health officials proposed a new term, "total population health," which has a similar focus as earlier conceptions of population health but is defined by specific geographic regions.
Health-care agencies have also adopted a scheme of promoting activities known to be associated with good health. These activities include participation in physical activities or exercise, good nutrition, avoiding certain behaviors—such as smoking—that could increase the risk for specific chronic conditions, and engagement in various types of preventative care. By promoting these activities, health-care agencies may directly improve the health condition of members of a population and therefore decrease mortality and morbidity. This differs from the outdated approach that medical treatment is the only way to improve patients’ health conditions.
Because total population health is defined by a specific geographic region, differences in culture, religion, food resources, and social activities may influence how individuals conduct their daily activities. However, health-care researchers have identified features in population health that are shared among different geographic regions. First, individuals or various factors influence the health condition of a specific population. Therefore, the health of people of any geographic region is affected by that group’s particular culture, religion, and food resources. These factors are then examined in every geographic region to better understand why one population has a higher or lower incidence rate for a particular disease than other groups. For example, in certain Asian countries, the incidence of intestinal cancer is higher than in countries such as the United States or Canada. Various theories can then be proposed to explain such observations.
Another factor shared by various geographic regions is the emphasis on both health promotion and disease prevention. Based on the recognition of the importance of preventative measures against disease, companies have become increasingly proactive in their promotional schemes for healthy lifestyles. For example, Kaiser Permanente, a health insurance consortium based in California and serving several states, has made promoting a healthy lifestyle a part of its campaign for disease prevention. In addition to its use of traditional pharmaceuticals to treat disease and illness, it provides classes such as yoga to promote physical activity and meditation, and depression management classes to promote mental health. These types of programs are offered to improve population health in the understanding that overall health and well-being involves more than simply reducing mortality and morbidity.
Bibliography
Galea, Sandro. Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health. Springer, 2007.
"Healthier Populations." World Health Organization, www.who.int/our-work/healthier-populations. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Heller, Richard F. Evidence for Population Health. Oxford UP, 2005.
Hill, Alison P., Siân Griffiths, and Stephen Gillam. Public Health and Primary Care: Partners in Population Health. Oxford UP, 2007.
Murray, Christopher J. L. Summary Measures of Population Health: Concepts, Ethics, Measurement, and Applications. World Health Organization, 2002.
Nash, David B., et al. Population Health: Creating a Culture of Wellness. 2nd ed., Jones, 2016.
United States. Institute of Medicine, Committee on Integrating Primary Care and Public Health. Primary Care and Public Health: Exploring Integration to Improve Population Health. National Academies, 2012.
Windsor, Richard A. Evaluation of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Programs: Improving Population Health through Evidenced-Based Practice. Oxford UP, 2015.