The main purpose of this project is to identify and quantify the major causal mechanisms that drive the changes in socioeconomic health inequalities in Sweden.
Specific aims are as follows: 1) To model the causal relationships between health, income, employment, lifestyle and diseases; 2) To utilize new decomposition techniques for mobility indices akin to those available in the literature for socioeconomic health inequality indices; 3) To examine how changes in the distribution of risk factors and major diseases have affected the socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy; 4) To use the models developed in 1) and the results from literature surveys on the effects of health interventions and policies, relating to, for example smoking cessation and obesity prevention in different socioeconomic groups to simulate the effects of policies on socioeconomic health inequalities.
This research will provide a scientific basis for decision makers to better analyse and evaluate the extent to which interventions and policies widen or reduce income-related inequalities in health.
