Measurement of Community Health: The Social Health Index

Measurement of Community Health examines the underlying assumptions of constructing a social health index. Some of the questions addressed by the book include: how is personal health different from community social health? What does community social health mean? What is the process of obtaining a community social health index? The author uses data from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Power analysis suggests that the social health index is a useful tool for monitoring social disadvantage. Most importantly, the results of this study suggest a reliable method of targeting federal funds or block grants for economic opportunity to states.