Poverty is major health risk: Primary health care providers need to take action

By: Wellesley Institute
On: Jul. 19, 2011

Primary health care providers should take “significant action on poverty as a health risk, while simultaneously working toward higher level systemic changes to reduce the impact of poverty on health” – that’s one of the conclusions of a new qualitative study on poverty and health in the latest edition of the peer-reviewed BMC Family Practice medical journal.The Wellesley Institute was one of the key informants in this review of the barriers to primary health care responsiveness. Our funded research, including Poverty is Making Us Sick and Sick and Tired, draws the links between poverty and poor health and is also cited in this new study.