Our non-medical needs—housing, food, and transportation—affect our health as surely as anything else, said speakers at a Health Affairs briefing last week.

The briefing was held to review the magazine’s November issue, which is devoted to a Culture of Health and includes studies exploring multiple facets of what makes for well-being and good health.

At the November 10 session (which has been archived), authors spoke about those studies. One examined community health (based on data from 360 communities that were tracked over 16 years). Another speaker reviewed findings on economic policies (specifically, the effects of tax credits, minimum wage, and right-to-work laws); another, what accountable care organizations are doing to meet members’ non-medical needs.

(At least one study in the issue makes specific reference to nurses: the “Beyond Books” piece reports on the role libraries play in public health, including a pilot project that places nurses in libraries.)

The issue and briefing, held in Washington, D.C., were produced with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.