What is Population Health?

By Chloe Pertierra

Population health refers to improving the health of the entire population through the use of policy and system changes (American Psychological Association, 2022). The population health approach aims to address social, environmental, cultural, and economic factors that influence health outcomes. The American Psychological Association affirms that “an individual’s health cannot be considered in isolation from the relationships, communities, and societies to which the individuals belong” (p. 1). Thus, social determinants of health such as environment, stigma, discrimination, education, and work should be considered.

The population health approach provides interventions and clinical applications to entire populations instead of individuals (Hunter et al., 2024). This looks like providing less intensive treatment for larger groups of people compared to providing intense treatment for a few people. Focusing on the entire population allows for improved health outcomes, cost reduction, and access to healthcare.

Population health is between prevention and intervention, aiming to identify potential problems before they develop into more serious conditions. Standardized clinical pathways were developed to carry out this approach. For example, to identify alcohol misuse, all patients who visit their primary care may be required to complete an alcohol screener. Once alcohol misuse has been identified, the primary care provider (PCP) or behavior health consultant (BHC) can provide brief intervention before referring out to specialty care.

The American Psychological Association recognizes the vital role of population health and urges psychology professionals and related disciplines to support this approach by “working within and across diverse systems to advance population health, work upstream by promoting prevention and early intervention strategies, educating psychologists and community partners on population health, and enlisting a diverse array of community partners” (pp. 1-3). For more details, check out the article Psychology’s role in advancing Population Health by the American Psychological Association (2022).

References:

American Psychological Association. Psychology’s role in advancing Population Health. (2022, February). https://www.apa.org/about/policy/population-health-statement.pdf

Hunter, C. L., Goodie, J. L., Oordt, M. S., & Dobmeyer, A. C. (2024). Integrated behavioral health in primary care: Step-by-step guidance for assessment and intervention, 3rd ed. American Psychological Association. https://doi-org.alliant.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/0000380-000