Epidemiology and Health Care Reform

The National Health Survey of 1935-1936

Bibliographic Data

ID11029291
AuthorsGeorge Weisz (0000-0002-4158-4685, McGill University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume101
Issue3
Pages438-447
Publication date2011-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2010.196519
PMID21233434
PMCIDPMC3036678
OpenAlexW2140414896
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited3

The National Health Survey undertaken in 1935 and 1936 was the largest morbidity survey until that time. It was also the first national survey to focus on chronic disease and disability. The decision to conduct a survey of this magnitude was part of the larger strategy to reform health care in the United States. The focus on morbidity allowed reformers to argue that the health status of Americans was poor, despite falling mortality rates that suggested the opposite. The focus on chronic disease morbidity proved to be an especially effective way of demonstrating the poor health of the population and the strong links between poverty and illness. The survey, undertaken by a small group of reform-minded epidemiologists led by Edgar Sydenstricker, was made possible by the close interaction during the Depression of agencies and actors in the public health and social welfare sectors, a collaboration which produced new ways of thinking about disease burdens

Depression (economics) · Disease · Economic growth · Environmental health · Falling (accident) · Health care · Political science · Population · Poverty · Public health · Survey data collection · Welfare · Epidemiology · Historical and modern epidemiology studies · Medicine · Nursing · Gerontology

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