School of Social Policy & Practice’s Jennifer Prah has co-authored an article that presents a methodology applied to major causes of death in the United States and other pressing public health issues.
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With the goal of helping individuals, communities, and professionals identify how to promote people’s ability to be healthy and flourish, a new article from Jennifer Prah, professor at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice and Perelman School of Medicine, and published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, presents a methodology applied to major causes of death in the U.S. and other pressing public health issues.
The methodology relies on the health capability profile (HCP)—developed by Prah and comprised of 15 interrelated components of an individual’s ability to achieve and maintain health.
Together, these factors represent “dynamic, interactive, cumulative, lifelong individual abilities and societal conditions that together enable optimal health,” the authors write.
Analyzing hypothetical case studies, the authors identify shortfalls between the observed and optimal levels of each health capability, as well as detrimental or enabling interactions among capabilities. The case studies illustrate how individuals, communities, public health agencies, and policymakers can use the HCP to identify and prioritize changes that are necessary to promote health. Says Prah, “Clear and enforced ethical standards of conduct transform detrimental social norms, social networks, and group membership influences.”
This story is by Juliana Rosati. To read a longer version of the story, visit SP2 News.
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