Health Affairs special issue highlights FFCWS publication

Nov. 18, 2016

In 2014, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced a vision of working with others to build a Culture of Health that gives everyone in America an equal opportunity to live the healthiest life they can. Nearly two years later, a special issue of Health Affairs features early findings from research on key factors that contribute to a Culture of Health, such as the interconnection of health and social issues; the link between population well-being and life expectancy; and collaboration across the many different sectors which play a critical role in achieving better health for all.

The issue includes an article using FFCWS data by Louis Donnelly of the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing at Princeton University which concludes that children who grow up in neighborhoods with higher levels of collective efficacy (a combination of social cohesion and control) experience lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms during adolescence, even after a wide variety of socio-demographic and mental health history variables are accounted for.

For more on the special issue, see the RWJF announcement here.