Lowell Levin is Emeritus Professor of Public Health at Yale University. His research and work as a consultant throughout the world have often challenged established public health beliefs and practices. Committed to health promotion, in the 1960s he pioneered the citizen participation movement, focusing on health communication and the social and behavioral factors affecting health (Self-Care: Lay Initiatives in Health, 1976). In the 1970s and early 1980s, with the first publication of The Hidden Health Care System and other works, Professor Levin brought to public health’s attention the role of non-professional resources in strengthening personal capacity for health and well being, primarily self-care. In the 1980s, Professor Levin pressed for improvement in the quality of medical care, notably as a co-author of Medicine on Trial (1988). As an advisor for over thirty-five years to the World Health Organization’s European Region, as well as to various non-governmental organizations in Europe, Latin America, the British Commonwealth Caribbean and the United States, Professor Levin has worked to develop cross-departmental collaborations, particularly at the national level in European countries, to improve the impact on health of diverse public policies in such areas as agriculture, education, environment, employment, communications and tourism. During his career as professor, researcher, and advisor, Professor Levin has developed innovative educational programs, including founding the global health division at the Yale School of Public Health, always aiming to enhance the ability of health practitioners and policy makers to effectively work across sectors as public health advocates. Throughout his career, Professor Levin has published extensively, led numerous international seminars, served on editorial boards of many scholarly journals, and spoken to a wide range of audiences emphasizing health in the global context of economic and social development. Clarifying the links between poverty, social inequity and health, he has increased policy makers awareness of the need to make healthy public policies through intersectoral action designed to optimize the benefits of collaborative health interventions in effective and sustainable ways.

public health beliefs and practices