Mary Anne Harmer is an executive strategist with DojoAgency in Portland.
15 photos- Mary Anne Harmer, Guest columnist
Eat right, exercise, practice healthy behaviors — along with good genes, aren’t these the ingredients for health and longevity?
That’s the message we see on blogs, health plan websites, and Facebook. Well, it’s time to debunk this sacred cow.
My public health colleagues have been preaching this for years, and it looks like the tide may be turning. Greater numbers of people are discovering the importance of understanding population health.
What is population health?
Population health refers to health outcomes of a group of individuals, with the aim of reducing health disparities among populations due to the social determinants of health — a variety of environmental, economic and social conditions that influence differences in health status.
They include where we live and work, income and wealth, roles in our communities, and many other factors that increase or decrease our risk of and vulnerability to disease and injury.
To submit a guest column on a health-related topic, please contact Elizabeth Hayes at ehayes@bizjournals.com.
How does this apply to health insurance?
For example: babies born to African American women have lower birth weights, and a higher rate of prematurity, than babies born to other ethnicities in the U.S. However, babies born to African women in Africa do not experience these outcomes at the same rates.
In other words, an African American woman who practices the best health behaviors before and during pregnancy, regardless of her socio-economic status, is still more likely to deliver a baby either prematurely, or with a low birth weight. This is a specific health disparity in this population.
An enlightened and informed carrier would recognize this unique health disparity, and provide African American women with proactive pregnancy outreach. Using group data, the carrier could confidently refer African American women to culturally competent providers and support to help improve birth outcomes.
The carrier could also become an agent of change, working to address other challenges women of all ethnicities experience — i.e., the social determinants of health, from job security to inadequate nutrition, lack of green space to poor air quality, even racism and sexism.
Everyone benefits when health providers recognize that the social determinants of health affect different groups every day — LGBTQ, military veterans, Latino families, single parents … The list is endless.
It’s time for disease management, wellness and case management programs to end their “one shoe fits all” thinking. We’re better served when we recognize how environmental, economic and social factors lead to health disparities, thereby affecting the larger communities in which we live.
Mary Anne Harmer is executive strategist with DojoAgency, a marketing and branding firm focused on health care. She formerly held executive positions with Oregon's Health Co-op and Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and was corporate director of marketing for Legacy Health.
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