Social and cultural implications of the economic stimulus package: Health provisions and disease prevention programs

Issues: content analysis of health provisions in stimulus package, disease prevention programs, health disparities, healthcare access. Description: This content analysis assesses social and cultural implications of the healthcare provisions in the economic stimulus package (H.R.1/S.336). Understanding the implications of the healthcare provisions provides a foundation for future community health intervention programs to eliminate health disparities based on the restructuring of resources. The cultural aspect of the content analysis considers any group of individuals with common language, norms, customs, and social practices. This is not limited to race, as healthcare access is often segmented along class and gender as well. Lessons Learned: Economic structural adjustment policies like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus package directly impact healthcare socially in the areas of public and private sector relationships, healthcare access, budgeting, and ultimately disease prevention. The reciprocal causation relationship between cognitive competencies, health behaviors, and environment as examined in social cognitive theory and applied to health programs is inherently influenced by national health policy. Recommendations: While policy implications are multi-layered and cover a wide range of possibilities, the social and cultural implications of the health provisions of the finalized economic structural adjustment policy have the potential to alter health sector constructs to the benefit of community health programs for disease prevention. The content analysis concerning the policy implications can guide community health program planning using the social cognitive theory factors of reciprocal causation.