Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

This collection of commentaries starts with contributions by authors writing on how we might expect population health to be affected by the current economic recession. George Kaplan (University of Michigan, USA), offers a conceptual model of the various ways that health might be impacted by economic recession and discusses some examples of studies in the US, Sweden and the UK which illustrate the likely processes involved (Kaplan, 2012). He calls for more research on the long term effects of economic shocks over the lifecourse and the role of social policies in mitigating these effects. Marc Suhrcke (University of East Anglia, UK) and David Stuckler (University of Cambridge, UK) then summarise results of research examining the links between economic recession and health at the individual and the population level (Suhrcke & Stuckler, 2012). Their results demonstrate the typically deleterious effects of recession on less advantaged groups, who are more likely to become unemployed and may be most affected by restraints on welfare programmes. However, for other groups there may be short term benefits to health, perhaps through moderation of unhealthy or risky lifestyles during periods of austerity. Their paper underlines the need in wealthy countries such as the USA, UK, and Sweden, to take measures to protect the health of those most at risk of unhealthy outcomes. Bo Burström (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden) makes a critical assessment of the evidence concerning health inequalities in Sweden and the ways these have been impacted by an economic recession experienced in the 1990s (Burström, 2012). He argues that, in terms of population health, the Swedish population weathered the initial phases of this recession quite successfully with little growth in health inequality and continued average improvement in health of the national population. However, over the longer term, given protracted impacts of recession on the labour market, certain social groups, including lone mothers, can be seen to have suffered relative disadvantages both in socio-economic position and in health outcomes. This experience suggests that even in a country with a relatively generous welfare state, the long term reverberations of economic recession on health can lead to growing inequalities. These three authors, writing from various national perspectives, therefore underline the complex and uneven impact of recession on health of different populations. Understanding this complexity, they argue, will be crucial for effective policy making. Health inequality and the ways that this will be impacted by recession is a challenge in all three countries.