27 April 2008

In a report by Dr. Majid Ezzati from Harvard University and Dr. Christopher Murray from the University of Washington, they found life expectancy to be inversely proportional to life-span - something they claim to be unheard of in an advanced nation where the healthiest and the least-healthy Americans continue to diverge (Kyung M. Song, "Life spans falling for least-healthy Americans, study by Harvard, UW finds," The Seattle Times, 22 April 2008).

While Dr. Ezzati and Dr. Murray hope their research will guide legislation to tackle health disparities, they also signaled the clarion call for better primary health care. Public-health expert at San Francisco State University James Wiley, concurs, stating that the "government also needs to ensure that all Americans have adequate health care" (ibid).

Richard Suzman, Director of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, MD, stresses the salience of the research, claiming it will soon be a classic with "a big impact" (Sabin Russell, "Rise in life expectancy not for all groups," San Francisco Chronicle, 22 April 2008).

Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Anthony Iton makes a critical point validating the research, stating that the study's link between geography and health outcome was duplicated in studies made in Alameda County. Moreover, he claims research of this magnitude is "building evidence linking social policy to measurable health outcomes, such as mortality rates."

Clearly on all levels, the outcry is loud for positive public-policy action.

Indeed, no one touts positive better than "Professor Happiness", Harvard social psychologist Daniel Gilbert (Claudia Dreifus, "The Smiling Professor," The New York Times, 22 April 2008). Currently, he directs a laboratory to study the nature of human happiness and attributes factors of resilience, adaptability, the ability to reframe events, and above all - human relationships - as instrumental towards experiencing happiness.

PFLs people, PFLs...the choice is yours.