Chapter 12 - Innovation in population health intervention research: A historical perspective

Abstract

While population health as a field of research has garnered much attention in the past two decades, health inequities between different population groups continue to rise. Globally, there has been an increasing call for the development of population health intervention research to address health inequities through action on the social determinants of health. Despite progress, there is a growing acknowledgment that challenges remain in addressing the underlying origins of health inequities. This chapter explores how a historical approach can guide our understanding of population health intervention research by addressing the underlying origins of health inequities among vulnerable populations. It begins with a brief discussion on the novel advantages of applying a historical approach to population health intervention research by highlighting the importance historical context and natural experiments embedded in the past. It then sheds light on key methodological innovations in using a historical approach to inform population health intervention research. Lastly this chapter showcases novel examples and outputs of using a historical approach to support population health intervention research.