健康格差対策の現在とこれから

抄録

Social isolation and loneliness are social factors that can affect health. These factors are called “social determinants of health” (“SDH”). Several studies have demonstrated that SDH influences health status, leading to health disparities between groups from different social backgrounds. Measures to address health disparities include a high-risk approach, which targets individuals with high health risks and is aimed at secondary prevention of diseases; a population approach, which aims to reduce the health risks of the entire population; and different types of population approaches that focus on reducing health disparities by targeting specific groups. By applying machine learning and accounting for differences in heterogeneity between subgroups within the target population, novel interventions have been proposed to address health disparities. To reduce health disparities through SDH initiatives, planning projects on existing evidence, evaluating their effectiveness and impact, and generating new evidence are necessary. The linkage and accumulation of data between databases and large-scale surveys should also be promoted. Therefore, a database with uniform national medical, health, and living environment information must be created.