How healthy is the U.S. population today? Is the population getting healthier, unhealthier, or staying about the same? What factors most influence the population's health?

Respuesta :

For most people, thinking about health and health care is a very personal issue. Assuring the health of the public, however, goes beyond focusing on the health status of individuals; it requires a population health approach. As noted in Chapter 1, America's health status does not match the nation's substantial health investments. The work of assuring the nation's health also faces dramatic change, systemic problems, and challenging societal norms and influences. Given these issues, the committee believes that it is necessary to transform national health policy, which traditionally has been grounded in a concern for personal health services and biomedical research that benefits the individual. Such repositioning will affirm and expand existing commitments to reflect a broader perspective.