Helen Keleher - Understanding Health

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Helen Keleher and Colin MacDougall 2022

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First published 2004

Second edition published 2008

Third edition published 2011

Fourth edition published 2016

Fifth edition published 2022

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FIGURES

TABLES

ABBREVIATIONS

CONTRIBUTORS

Editors

Helen Keleher, BA, MA, PhD; Life Member Public Health Assoc. of Australia, Adjunct Professor School of Rural Health, Monash University; Principal, Keleher Consulting.

Colin MacDougall, BA (Hons) MA, PhD; Emeritus Professor of Public Health, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University; (Honorary), Child & Community Wellbeing Unit, Centre for Health Equity, The Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.

Contributors

Teresa Capetola, BBSc, BA (Hons), MA; Lecturer, Deakin University.

Toby Freeman, BPsyc (Hons), PhD; Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University.

Melissa Graham, BPH (Hons), Grad Cert High Ed, Grad Dip Epi Biostats, PhD; Associate Professor, La Trobe University.

Claire Henderson-Wilson, BAppSci (Hons), Grad Cert Ed Studies/Disability, Grad Cert High Ed, PhD; Senior Lecturer, Deakin University.

Fiona McKay, BSc, MPH, PhD; Senior Lecturer, Deakin University.

Kim ODonnell, DipT, MPHC, DrPH; Research Fellow Indigenous Health, The Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University; Senior Researcher Adelaide Nursing School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Adelaide University.

Rebecca Patrick, BAppSc (Hons), GCertHigherEd, PhD; Senior Lecturer, Deakin University.

Tahna L. Pettman, BHS (Life Science), Grad Cert Clin. Research, PhD; Public Health Academic Consultant.

Heather R. Yeatman, BSc, DipEd, GDipNutDiet, MPH, DrPH; Hon Professor Public Health, University of Wollongong, Life Member Public Health Assoc. of Australia.

PREFACE

We want this book to spread the word about contemporary understandings of health, what shapes it and how we take action to improve it. Public health would be so easy if health was determined only by the visible and commonly discussed factors of biology, behaviour and the health care system. But it is not as easy as that. Public health is complicated, because health is determined by the circumstances in which we live, work, study, love, raise children, shop, play, google, travel and care for our planet. These circumstances are called the social determinants of health. Thankfully researchers, practitioners, policymakers and communities have been working together to chart ways through this complexity. In this book, we discuss the latest evidence on how to work with communities to lead global, national and local strategies to produce social conditions that enable people to live healthier and more satisfying lives.