AHRQ, NIH Release Book on Population Health

A new book, titled Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights and produced jointly by AHRQ and NIH’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, is a collection of papers that highlight the varied contributions of the behavioral and social sciences to population health. While much health research seeks to improve the health of an individual, there is much to be learned by understanding the context in which individual and community health problems develop. This understanding may lead to interventions developed from collaborations from the behavioral and social sciences that improve health and well-being both to individuals and to populations with common systemic risk factors. Each chapter in the newly released book considers an area of investigation and ends with suggestions for future research and implications of current research for policy and practice. In the foreword, AHRQ Director Richard Kronick, Ph.D., states that health care by itself is limited in its capacity to remedy all the challenges of poor health outcomes. Both agencies hope this book stimulates rigorous and relevant research that will improve the health of the nation.

Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights

Edited by Robert M. Kaplan, Michael L. Spittel, Daryn H. David

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, improve health care quality, and make it more accessible, equitable, and affordable; a parallel goal is to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used. The agency has a strong commitment to disseminate the best available evidence to improve health outcomes from the patient perspective. AHRQ publishes reports that are relevant to improving population health. This report focuses on factors within the health care delivery system, including where health disparities are improving and where they have stayed the same or gotten worse.

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Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights [ PDF File - 21.8 MB].

Persons using assistive technology may not be able to fully access information in the above files. For assistance, contact Mary Grady at (301) 427-1891 or Mary.Grady@ahrq.hhs.gov. The accessible version will be available by October 2015.

This report has been jointly produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings and conclusions presented herein are those of the authors, who are responsible for the content; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ, NIH, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This document is in the public domain and may be used and reproduced without permission, except for those materials that are subject to copyright. Such materials are clearly identified herein; further use of these materials will require permission from the third-party copyright holders.

Suggested citation: Kaplan R, Spittel M, David D (Eds). Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights. AHRQ Publication No. 15-0002. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health; July 2015.

Page last reviewed July 2015

Internet Citation: Population Health: Behavioral and Social Science Insights. July 2015. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/education/curriculum-tools/population-health/index.html