The Dahlgren-Whitehead rainbow (1991)

Summary

The Dahlgren-Whitehead rainbow is a model for determining health inequalities that maps the relationship between the individual, their environment and health. It was developed in 1991 by Göran Dahlgren and Margaret Whitehead and places individuals at the centre, with various layers of influences on health surrounding them, such as individual lifestyle factors, community influences, living and working conditions, and more general social conditions.

The model remains one of the most effective illustrations of health determinants, and has had widespread impact in research on health inequality and influences. It has helped researchers develop a range of hypotheses about the determinants of health, explore the relative influence of these determinants on different health outcomes and plot the interactions between the various determinants.

Content

Please see link at the bottom of this page for the source of the graphic.

Related reading

• Health Education England's All Our Health: Health disparities and health inequalities (5 October 2022)
• NICE and health inequalities (October 2022)
• Caring for people and our planet: Dr Dominique Allwood on health inequalities and climate change (The King's Fund, 16 December 2022)
• RCPCH: Child health inequalities – a toolkit for paediatricians (September 2022)
• Centre for Mental Health - Briefing 58: Poverty, economic inequality and mental health (26 July 2022)