Emerging Evidence from Research That Can Improve Social Policies and Programs to Impact Child Health

In this chapter I outline three emerging ideas from research that have implications for policies and programs that aim to promote child health. These ideas have relevance for a range of investments in child health, including the work–family policies and practices discussed by Berkman and O’Donnell (Chap. 12). The first is a growing body of evidence that psychological health, in addition to physical health, in childhood is associated with long-term outcomes and that the relationship between childhood psychological well-being and adult outcomes is sizeable. The second emerging research finding discussed in this chapter is mounting evidence related to the implementation and effectiveness of policies that aim to promote child health by affecting parents’ human capital and family processes. The third issue that this chapter highlights is that research evidence can be put to better use by helping decision makers build a portfolio of effective approaches rather than using research to make one “best” choice off the menu of options.