1st Edition

Philosophy of Population Health Philosophy for a New Public Health Era

By Sean Valles Copyright 2018
    224 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    224 Pages 6 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Population health has recently grown from a series of loosely connected critiques of twentieth-century public health and medicine into a theoretical framework with a corresponding field of research—population health science. Its approach is to promote the public’s health through improving everyday human life: afford-able nutritious food, clean air, safe places where children can play, living wages, etc. It recognizes that addressing contemporary health challenges such as the prevalence of type 2 diabetes will take much more than good hospitals and public health departments.

    Blending philosophy of science/medicine, public health ethics and history, this book offers a framework that explains, analyses and largely endorses the features that define this relatively new field. Presenting a philosophical perspective, Valles helps to clarify what these features are and why they matter, including: searching for health’s "upstream" causes in social life, embracing a professional commitment to studying and ameliorating the staggering health inequities in and between populations; and reforming scientific practices to foster humility and respect among the many scientists and non- scientists who must work collaboratively to promote health.

    Featuring illustrative case studies from around the globe at the end of all main chapters, this radical monograph is written to be accessible to all scholars and advanced students who have an interest in health—from public health students to professional philosophers.

    Acknowledgements

    Chapter 1: Blueprint of a philosophy of—and for—population health science

    A brief overview

    Introduction

    What is population health science?

    Why write a book on philosophy of population health science?

    What will this book accomplish?

    What are the book’s philosophical methods and commitments?

    What this book is not, and what it will not do

    Onward

    Section 1 What should health mean in population health science?

    Chapter 2 A brief history of the social concept of health and its role in population health science

    Introduction

    The biomedical model and the Biostatistical Theory of health

    Population health as (metaphysically) social health

    Health is (empirically) social

    Conclusion: Moving toward a thoroughly social health concept of health

    Case study: The Standing Rock Sioux Water Protectors

    Chapter 3 Health as a life course trajectory of complete well-being in social context

    Introduction: The many debates over health’s meaning

    Life Course Theory

    Life course lesson 1: Health is best understood as a lifelong phenomenon, not in time slices

    Life course lesson 2: Population health and individual health are best understood as co-developing dynamically

    The World Health Organization’s definition of health, not what it seems

    The WHO definition of health is not an operationalized tool for health assessment; it is a toolbox that guides the gathering of tools

    Making room for health pluralisms: metaphysical, empirical, ethical and methodological

    Conclusion: An updated health concept for an expansive population health mission

    Case Study: Addressing health disparities between Aboriginal Australians and settler Australians

    Section 2 Which causes and effects matter most in population health?

    Chapter 4 Expanding the boundaries of population health

    Introduction: health as life course of complete well-being in social context calls for a broad health promotion mandate

    Continuing from Chapter 3: ‘Health issues’ ≠ ‘healthcare issues’

    "Boundary problem" problems

    Political theory and population health

    An unnecessary philosophical assumption: If X becomes a public health problem then it must be primarily or exclusively a public health problem

    An incorrect empirical prediction: Broad conceptions of public health predictably lead to harms to the public health professions or to the populations they serve

    The epistemic risks of erring on the side of wide vs. narrow boundaries for public health

    Conclusion: Expanding philosophy of population health to catch up with the science and practice

    Case Study: Global climate change

    Chapter 5 Prioritizing the right population health causes and effects

    Introduction: Addressing population health problems at the roots

    "Fundamental-cause theory": the wrong name for the right approach

    "Fundamental causes": Paramount importance because of a unique type of stability

    What is and isn’t wrong with risk factors

    Turning attention from "causes of cases" to "causes of incidence"

    Philosophy of salutogenesis vs. philosophy of pathogenesis

    Conclusion

    Case study: Brazil’s AIDS response

    Section 3 How can population health science better promote health equity?

    Chapter 6 Managing the inevitable trade-offs in population health science practice

    Introduction

    The problem of heterogeneity: Lumping vs. splitting in population health

    The high risk approach vs. the population approach

    Decentering the healthcare system to promote population health vs. expanding outward from the healthcare system

    Evidence-based medicine vs. public health pragmatism

    Conclusion

    Case study: the heterogeneous health of migrants

    Chapter 7 Ethics and Evidence in the Population Health Equity Debates

    Introduction: Population health science and health equity

    Health equity is built into population health science

    The (real and imagined) consequences of an ambiguous understanding of "health equity"

    Equitable health promotion and health governance

    Hypothetical problems’ outsized influence in population health equity deliberations

    Conclusion

    Case study: Investigating racism and racial health disparities

    Conclusion

    Chapter 8 Humility as the way forward for population health science, and philosophy thereof

    Introduction: A spirit of humility and collaboration

    Embracing epistemic humility

    Sectoral humility: Non-hierarchical intersectorality

    Disciplinary Humility: Non-hierarchical interdisciplinarity

    Population health science education for health professionals

    Population health science education for all

    Philosophy of population health science, from a position of service

     

    Biography

    Sean A. Valles is Associate Professor, jointly appointed to Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College and Department of Philosophy, USA.

    "What is most notable about this book is the way that the author skillfully and with great nuance explicates and distils the arguments of the many debates about population health and the determinants of health. [...] Professor Valles has skillfully drawn together and woven into a coherent framework a diverse set of literature dating back to the 19th century and the origins of social medicine. He does justice to the literature and acknowledges the importance of integrating elements of modern preventive medicine with a sustained explication of the work of Geoffrey Rose. He also highlights the significance of modern frameworks such as the WHO Social Determinants of Health Commission."

    Ross Upshur (University of Toronto) for the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal