Two Worlds Colliding

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Fiorino
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Green Growth ◽  
Ecological Politics ◽  
Zero Sum

In recent decades, ecological politics in the United States has been locked in a zero-sum conflict, with ecological goals pitted against economic ones. The result is that ecosystems and public health are increasingly at risk, needed transitions in energy and other systems are delayed, and opportunities for leveraging economic and ecological goals are unrealized. This matters, because economic growth is placing increasing pressures on local, regional, and global ecosystems and resources. Growing and compelling evidence of ecological limits raises not only critical threats to health and the natural environment but undermines the very basis for economic and social well-being. The alternative to an irresponsible strategy of unguided growth or a politically unrealistic and socially risky one of no growth or de-growth is that of green growth. Green growth defines a basis for both a politically realistic framing of ecology–economy issues and a workable policy agenda for change.

scholarly journals Sample-Selection Biases and the Industrialization Puzzle

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Bodenhorn ◽  
Timothy W. Guinnane ◽  
Thomas A. Mroz
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Selection Bias ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Compelling Evidence ◽  
Long Term Changes ◽  
The U.S

Understanding long-term changes in human well-being is central to understanding the consequences of economic development. An extensive anthropometric literature purports to show that heights in the United States declined between the 1830s and the 1890s, which is when the U.S. economy modernized. Most anthropometric research contends that declining heights reflect the negative health consequences of industrialization and urbanization. This interpretation, however, relies on sources subject to selection bias. Our meta-analysis shows that the declining height during industrialization emerges primarily in selected samples. We also develop a parsimonious diagnostic test that reveals, but does not correct for, selection bias in height samples. When applied to four representative height samples, the diagnostic provides compelling evidence of selection.

Invisible Hand or Ecological Footprint? Comparing Social Versus Environmental Impacts of Recent Economic Growth

2019 ◽  
pp. 108602661988511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory M. Mikkelson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
Key Indicators

This study examines changes in some key indicators among 66 countries on six continents over a 56-year period, to compare the power of economic growth to improve human health and income distribution with its tendency to degrade the natural environment. The results indicate that growth depletes and pollutes nature far more than it benefits society. This suggests that public policy should shift toward enhancement of individual and social well-being in ways more direct and effective, and less ecologically damaging, than reliance on overall growth in gross domestic product. I illustrate this implication with a degrowth scenario for the United States to 2050 that draws on the empirical results for the period 1961 to 2016. And I consider certain reforms in the management and governance of organizations to implement such a scenario.

scholarly journals Age-Standardized Mortality of Persons on Probation, in Jail, or in State Prison and the General Population, 2001-2012

2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
pp. 660-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wildeman ◽  
Alyssa W. Goldman ◽  
Emily A. Wang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Correctional Facility ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
State Prison ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Standardized Mortality Ratios

Objectives: The number of adults in the United States being held on probation—persons convicted of crimes and serving their sentence in the community rather than in a correctional facility—approached 4 million at the end of 2016 and continues to grow, yet little is known about the health and well-being of this population. We compared the standardized mortality ratios of persons on probation in the United States with persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. Methods: We used administrative data from 2001-2012 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database and indirect standardization techniques to compare the mortality rates of persons on probation in 15 states with the mortality rates of persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. We applied the age-specific mortality rates of 3 populations (general US population, persons in jail, and persons in state prison) to the age distribution of persons on probation to estimate standardized mortality ratios. Results: Persons on probation died at a rate 3.42 times higher than persons in jail, 2.81 times higher than persons in state prison, and 2.10 times higher than the general US population, after standardizing the age distribution of persons on probation relative to the other 3 groups. Conclusions: Public health interventions should target persons on probation, who have received less attention from the public health community than persons serving sentences in jails and prisons.

Online Well-Being Focused Curriculums

2017 ◽  
pp. 1415-1429
Author(s):  
Michelle Lee D'Abundo ◽  
Stephen L. Firsing III ◽  
Cara Lynn Sidman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Quality Of Life ◽  
United States ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Behavior Change ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Health Related

Education and health are among the most salient issues facing Americans today. The field of public health has moved away from a physical health medical model to a more well-being focused quality-of-life perspective. K-20 curriculums in the United States need to reflect this ideological shift. In this chapter, content-focused curriculums with process-focused health behavior change-oriented learning are proposed as a strategy to promote well-being. Other issues that need to be addressed in the current education system are that the delivery of health-related curriculums is often inconsistent and taught by untrained personnel. Well-being-focused curriculums delivered online can provide consistency to improve the quality of health courses. This innovative approach has the potential to improve educational and health outcomes for K-20 curriculums while addressing public health issues by promoting well-being and quality-of-life for children and adults throughout the United States.

Food Insecurity and Public Health

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Knowles ◽  
Joanna Simmons ◽  
Mariana Chilton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Nutrition Assistance ◽  
The Right

Food insecurity—lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life—is a major public health issue, affecting the health and well-being of one in seven people in the United States. Food insecurity is related to economic, social, and political conditions, and is beyond the control of a single household. Structural inequalities and discrimination against people of color, LGBTQ people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and women drives disparities in food insecurity. Major policy interventions include raising wages, improving the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, various programs of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, and the Elder Nutrition Program, but these programs are not sufficient to address food insecurity fully. A human rights approach, which recognizes the right to food and promotes increasing civic participation among people from all sectors, offers new possibilities in addressing food insecurity in the United States.

Ecology and Economy: Partners or Antagonists?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Fiorino
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Growth Strategy ◽  
Green Growth ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Ecology And Economy

Ecological policy and politics in the United States and most other countries has turned on the almost inevitable conflicts between ecological and economic goals. US policy recognized this in defining policy as a process of minimizing negatives: of limiting ecological harm while also controlling for pollution and other effects of growth. Instead, policy choices should be built on a green growth strategy—of maximizing the opportunities for positive relationships. This goal is supported by evidence. Ecological policies in the United States have had limited adverse effects on economic growth and competitiveness; at the same time, strategies built on such concepts as clean energy and green infrastructure define options for positive-sum solutions. Evidence of both ecological and social costs of unguided economic growth, as well as the realities of American politics, makes a compelling case for a green growth framing.

scholarly journals Comparative analysis of USA and Chinese entrepreneurship: experience for Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-97
Author(s):  
A. M. Myrzakhmetova ◽  
A. E. Mukhametzhan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The World ◽  
Effective Development ◽  
The Impact

Вusinesses are the backbone of the national economy and play an important role for the effective functioning of the economy of any country in the world. The authors studied the experience of the United States and China, in which small and medium-sized businesses have been successfully developing for a long time, both during periods of economic growth and during periods of economic recession.The purpose of the article is to study the features and conduct a comparative analysis of the organization of entrepreneurial activity in the United States and China, and, based on the experience of these countries, develop proposals for the effective development of entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan. The authors analyzed the dynamics and factors of the development of small and medium-sized businesses, the advantages and disadvantages of entrepreneurial activity in the United States and China, and identified the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurial activity in these countries and in Kazakhstan. In the course of the study, various methods of scientific knowledge were used: data collection and processing, economic, comparative and statistical analysis, generalization, synthesis, induction, deduction. We collected and processed fresh quantitative data on the state and dynamics of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the United States and China in the period from 2011 to 2021.Small and medium business is an integral and important part of the economic development of all countries of the world, the experience of countries such as the United States and China can be useful and interesting for the Kazakh economy. Entrepreneurship performs a number of important socio-economic functions for the country: providing employment, creating a competitive environment, supporting and introducing innovations, reducing social inequality, attracting natural, human, material and technical resources into the production and commercial process, stimulating economic growth and improving the well-being of people.The authors, based on a study of the experience of entrepreneurial activities of two large leading countries of the world economy, have developed proposals that will contribute to the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Self-Reported Symptom Tracking Programs in the United States: Framework Synthesis

10.2196/23297 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. e23297
Author(s):  
Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos ◽  
Miranda Lynn Janvrin ◽  
Jessica Korona-Bailey ◽  
Cathaleen Madsen ◽  
Rodney Sturdivant
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Smoking Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Common Data Elements ◽  
Local Health Care

Background With the continued spread of COVID-19 in the United States, identifying potential outbreaks before infected individuals cross the clinical threshold is key to allowing public health officials time to ensure local health care institutions are adequately prepared. In response to this need, researchers have developed participatory surveillance technologies that allow individuals to report emerging symptoms daily so that their data can be extrapolated and disseminated to local health care authorities. Objective This study uses a framework synthesis to evaluate existing self-reported symptom tracking programs in the United States for COVID-19 as an early-warning tool for probable clusters of infection. This in turn will inform decision makers and health care planners about these technologies and the usefulness of their information to aid in federal, state, and local efforts to mobilize effective current and future pandemic responses. Methods Programs were identified through keyword searches and snowball sampling, then screened for inclusion. A best fit framework was constructed for all programs that met the inclusion criteria by collating information collected from each into a table for easy comparison. Results We screened 8 programs; 6 were included in our final framework synthesis. We identified multiple common data elements, including demographic information like race, age, gender, and affiliation (all were associated with universities, medical schools, or schools of public health). Dissimilarities included collection of data regarding smoking status, mental well-being, and suspected exposure to COVID-19. Conclusions Several programs currently exist that track COVID-19 symptoms from participants on a semiregular basis. Coordination between symptom tracking program research teams and local and state authorities is currently lacking, presenting an opportunity for collaboration to avoid duplication of efforts and more comprehensive knowledge dissemination.

scholarly journals A look at the first quarantined community in the United States: Response of religious communal organizations and implications for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Weinberger-Litman ◽  
Leib Litman ◽  
Zohn Rosen ◽  
David H. Rosmarin ◽  
Cheskie Rosenzweig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Community Organizations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Related Information

The current study examined anxiety and distress among members of the first community to be quarantined in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to being historically significant, the current sample was unusual in that those quarantined were all members of a Modern Orthodox Jewish community and were connected via religious institutions at which exposure may have occurred. We sought to explore the community and religious factors unique to this sample, as they relate to the psychological and public health impact of quarantine. Community organizations were trusted more than any other source of COVID 19-related information, including federal, state, and other government agencies, including the CDC, WHO and media news sources. This was supported qualitatively with open-ended responses in which participants described the range of supports organized by community organizations. These included tangible needs (i.e. food delivery), social support, virtual religious services, and dissemination of COVID-19 related information. The overall levels of distress and anxiety were elevated and directly associated with what was reported to be largely inadequate and inconsistent health related information received from local departments of health. In addition, the majority of participants felt that perception of or concern about future stigma related to a COVID-19 diagnosis or association of COVID-19 with the Jewish community was high and also significantly predicted distress and anxiety. The current study demonstrates the ways in which religious institutions can play a vital role in promoting the well-being of their constituents. During this unprecedented pandemic, public health authorities have an opportunity to form partnerships with religious institutions in the common interests of promoting health, relaying accurate information and supporting the psychosocial needs of community members, as well as protecting communities against stigma and discrimination.

scholarly journals A Well-Being Snapshot in a Changing World

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 344-349
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Benjamin ◽  
Kristen B. Cooper ◽  
Ori Heffetz ◽  
Miles Kimball
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Growth Autonomy ◽  
Changing World

Although technology-driven economic growth generates gains in consumption and employment opportunities, it may also negatively impact other dimensions of well-being, such as emotional well-being or sense of stability. We study 204 aspects of self-reported well-being among 1,576 US MTurk survey respondents, aggregated into seven themes: evaluative well-being, emotional well-being, positive perceptions of technology or economic growth, autonomy and flexibility, work environment, feelings of calmness and stability, and feelings of belonging and connection. Demographic associations with aspects of well-being vary somewhat across the themes. We highlight the value of a multidimensional approach when comparing well-being across different groups in the United States.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document