Taking Rights Seriously in Health

Abstract

Few now question that population health is significantly shaped by social ecology. Power, wealth, and social status clearly matter: Their enactment in daily life makes them fundamental social determinants of health. Important as it is that we accept the broad importance of social factors in health, it is not enough. Our current grasp of the importance of social factors in health has to be strengthened by research that more precisely delineates the workings of social health through social processes, and the investment in research must in turn be vindicated by interventions that make a difference. The work presented in this issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics is intended to advance the agenda for research and action.An ecological theory puts health everywhere. Population health is shaped in the hierarchies of the workplace, the neighborhood, and the home.