The timing could not be better for the launch of the landmark PBS documentary
Unnatural Causes – Is Inequality Making us Sick?, a four-part series that sheds light on the critical importance of economics, race and class on health outcomes.

The documentary (which I helped advise) skillfully portrays the vast disparities in health and overall quality of life between families with wealth and those clinging to the middle and lower rungs of the economic ladder.

The more money you have, the better your health. This powerful and vital message is at the heart of the series and helped spur the creation of the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place, which I direct.

More resources and insights below the fold….

Never before has there been a greater awareness about lessons PolicyLink has been delivering to audiences for years: where you live determines the quality of your life. Your address either helps protect you from illness and poor health or places you at greater risk. (Download a pdf of our report, “Why Place Matters: Building a Movement for Healthy Communities“)

Years of study – and our own eyes – show clearly that residents of low-income communities and communities of color suffer disproportionately from negative environmental factors: poor air quality filled with toxins like diesel exhaust from highways and bus depots; poorly maintained and mold-infested homes; lack of healthy food options; and few clean, safe open spaces such as parks and playgrounds.

Taken together, the quality of a community’s “built environment” — the safety of its streets and parks, the condition of housing and schools, the location of businesses, and patterns of regional growth and change– is a tremendous indicator of residents’ health.

As Harvard professor David R. Williams, one of our country’s leading health researchers, says in the opening segment, “Economic policy is health policy.” The connection is that clear and strong.

What can each of us do to work towards changing some of these policies? What can we do in our organizations to change institutional practices to promote better health? How do we engage in meaningful dialogue with each other to share differences, yet find common ground? Do we dare change some of our perceptions, thinking and behaviors?

Check your local PBS listings for show times in your area.

For plenty of research and resources on how to help build a healthier community, please visit the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place.

Tags: built environment, center for health and place, Documentary, environment, health, health disparities, healthy communities, pbs, unnatural causes

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.