Rose's population strategy of prevention need not increase social inequalities in health

200Citations
Citations of this article
420Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Geoffrey Rose's 1985 paper, Sick individuals and sick populations, continues to spark debate and discussion. Since this original publication, there have been two notable challenges to Rose's population strategy of prevention. First, identification of high-risk individuals has improved considerably in accuracy, which some believe obviates the need for population-wide prevention strategies. Secondly, and more recently, it has been suggested that population strategies of prevention may inadvertently worsen social inequalities in health. We argue that population prevention will not necessarily worsen social inequalities in health, and the likelihood of it doing so will depend on whether the prevention strategy is more structural (targets conditions in which behaviours occur) or agentic (targets behaviour change among individuals) in nature. Also, there are potential drawbacks of approaches that focus on discrete populations (i.e. high risk or vulnerable) that need to be considered when selecting a strategy. Although Rose's ideas need to be continually scrutinized, his population strategy of prevention still holds considerable merit for improving population health and narrowing social inequalities in health. © Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association. The Author 2009; all rights reserved.

References Powered by Scopus

Sick individuals and sick populations

2451Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Transcending the known in public health practice: The inequality paradox: The population approach and vulnerable populations

729Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Uneven dietary development: Linking the policies and processes of globalization with the nutrition transition, obesity and diet-related chronic diseases

636Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Trends in dietary supplement use among US adults from 1999-2012

513Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Role of inactivity in chronic diseases: Evolutionary insight and pathophysiological mechanisms

444Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Good intentions are not enough: How informatics interventions can worsen inequality

390Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

McLaren, L., McIntyre, L., & Kirkpatrick, S. (2010). Rose’s population strategy of prevention need not increase social inequalities in health. International Journal of Epidemiology, 39(2), 372–377. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyp315

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 224

70%

Researcher 47

15%

Professor / Associate Prof. 33

10%

Lecturer / Post doc 14

4%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Medicine and Dentistry 141

52%

Social Sciences 73

27%

Nursing and Health Professions 45

17%

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 12

4%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free