/ Peer Effects in Health Behaviors Introduction Health economists have long been interested in examining the determinants of, and potential policies for, reducing unhealthy behaviors in the population. Although a main focus in this area has historically been on issues of policy involving taxation, access restrictions, advertising, etc., a shift toward evaluating the basic social
Introduction A primary objective of environmental policies worldwide is to protect human health. Optimal policy design, however, is typically hampered by limited information regarding both the benefits and the costs associated with regulation. Benefits assessments frequently rely on translating laboratory findings to uncontrolled settings, extrapolating from high- to low- concentration exposures within and across societies
Health communication is the study and application of the generation, creation, and dissemination of health-related information, health-related interactions among individual social actors and institutions, and their effects on different publics including individuals, community groups, and institutions. The challenges inherent in disease prevention and health promotion warrant a multidisciplinary and multilevel approach that examines the role
The health science field has become one of the largest of the career clusters. Approximately 14 million people were employed in some aspect of the U.S. health care system in 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Health care workers are employed as physicians, nurses, nursing aides, technicians, technologists, therapists, and in a host
Overview Advertising is ubiquitous, found on television and radio, newspapers and magazines, mail and flyers on the windshield, billboards and sports arenas, and now on the computer, and virtually no one is immune to being exposed to it. The American Marketing Association defines marketing, of which advertising is a subset, as ‘‘the activity, set of
Introduction What do economists add to the multidisciplinary discussion of addiction? In this article, economic theories of addiction, statistical evidence produced by economists on addictive behaviors, and resulting policy implications are described. The manner in which economists approach addictive behaviors differs in some ways from the approaches of other disciplines. Medical and public health research
Introduction Induced abortion is not an obvious topic in a section on health economics. Although being a common procedure, abortion does not contribute to rising medical expenditures or inflation. There were 1.1 million surgical abortions in the US in 2008, but the number of abortions has fallen overtime, although the inflation-adjusted cost of a first
/ Health at Advanced Ages Introduction This article examines how health and mortality at advanced ages evolves from conditions early in life. Here, the authors summarize the findings, examine econometric strategies to identify causal effects, and discuss the implications of the findings for public policies aimed at improving population health. The larger part of health
Introduction Alcohol is extremely prevalent in contemporary society. According to the World Health Organization, in 2005 the per capita alcohol consumption totaled 6.13 l of pure alcohol for every person age 15 and older worldwide. More than a quarter of this consumption is estimated to be from illegal or homemade production and thus not likely
/ Accreditation of Public Health Programs Accreditation is widely used in higher education in the United States as a nongovernmental means to evaluate colleges and universities and to evaluate and attest to the quality of an individual educational program that prepares students for entry into a recognized profession. Regional accrediting bodies, whose membership is made