scholarly journals Barcelona Salut als Barris: Twelve years’ experience of tackling social health inequalities through community-based interventions

Author(s):  
Ferran Daban ◽  
M. Isabel Pasarín ◽  
Carme Borrell ◽  
Lucía Artazcoz ◽  
Anna Pérez ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Matheson ◽  
Kevin Dew ◽  
Jacqueline Cumming

Reducing health inequalities has been part of the New Zealand government's agenda since the early 1990s. As a result, interventions have been implemented nationally with the explicit goal of reducing health inequalities. This paper describes findings from a comparative case study of two community-based interventions - carried out in different New Zealand communities. Complexity theory was used as an analytic tool to examine the case data, and provided a systematic way in which to explore 'local' issues by taking a 'whole system' perspective. The findings showed that two important influences on the successful implementation of the interventions were the existence and capacity of local organisations and their relationships with government agencies. The analysis provided a dynamic picture of shared influences on the interventions in different communities and in doing so offered insight into intervention effectiveness. It is argued in this article that, for examining intervention effectiveness, it is essential to have a theoretical understanding of the behaviour of the complex system in which they are implemented. This theoretical understanding has implications for the appropriate design of interventions to reduce health inequalities, and in turn should lead to more meaningful ways to evaluate them.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Matheson ◽  
Kevin Dew ◽  
Jacqueline Cumming

Reducing health inequalities has been part of the New Zealand government's agenda since the early 1990s. As a result, interventions have been implemented nationally with the explicit goal of reducing health inequalities. This paper describes findings from a comparative case study of two community-based interventions - carried out in different New Zealand communities. Complexity theory was used as an analytic tool to examine the case data, and provided a systematic way in which to explore 'local' issues by taking a 'whole system' perspective. The findings showed that two important influences on the successful implementation of the interventions were the existence and capacity of local organisations and their relationships with government agencies. The analysis provided a dynamic picture of shared influences on the interventions in different communities and in doing so offered insight into intervention effectiveness. It is argued in this article that, for examining intervention effectiveness, it is essential to have a theoretical understanding of the behaviour of the complex system in which they are implemented. This theoretical understanding has implications for the appropriate design of interventions to reduce health inequalities, and in turn should lead to more meaningful ways to evaluate them.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e024015
Author(s):  
Mouctar Sow ◽  
Myriam De Spiegelaere ◽  
Marie-France Raynault

IntroductionAssessing the effects of social policies on social health inequalities (SHIs) is a complex issue. Variations in social policy between countries or regions provide natural experiments in policy implementation to perform comparative research. Comparisons are most enlightening when: the object of the evaluation is well defined (types of policies, population groups); the context of policy is analysed (history, implementation); the impact of policy on household poverty is outlined in detail; the influence of various factors (other than poverty) on SHI is taken into consideration.Methods and analysisThis study aims to understand how income support policies (ISPs) in Brussels and Montreal influence the poverty level of households receiving social assistance, and how they are associated with SHI at birth. Two cases studies will be carried out from a comparative perspective. The analysis includes four stages : (1) The model family method will be used to compare ISPs and their impact on disposable income and poverty of households receiving social assistance in both regions. (2) Statistical analysis of administrative databases will enable the description and comparison of SHI in adverse pregnancy outcomes across the two regions. (3) Analysis of databases and documents will allow for description of various factors which are likely to interact with poverty and influence SHI at birth. (4) Based on the Diderichsen model, results from the previous stages will be used to formulate hypotheses about the mechanisms by which ISPs contribute to increasing or reducing SHI at birth in both regions.Ethics and disseminationThis research was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee for Health research of Université de Montréal. In Belgium, the access to linked databases was approved by the Commission for the Protection of Privacy. Databases de-identified according to Belgian and Canadian legislation will be used. Results will be disseminated in scientific publications and will be shared with policy makers and field actors through collaborations with local organisations in Brussels and Montreal.


Epidemiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (Suppl) ◽  
pp. S386-S387
Author(s):  
H Slachtova ◽  
H Tomaskova ◽  
D Skybova ◽  
P Polaufova ◽  
I Tomasek ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Cristina Barboza-Solís DDS, MSc, PhD ◽  
Juan Pablo Sáenz-Bonilla MSc ◽  
Romain Fantin MSc ◽  
Ingrid Gómez-Duarte MD, MSc, PhD ◽  
Karol Rojas-Araya NP

Social health inequalities (or inequities) continue to represent a great challenge for public health research worldwide. Since 1991, the World Health Organization established that the study and analysis of health inequalities represented a priority for all countries. To better guide methodological and practical implications of health inequalities, research on this topic should present a solid theoretical model, able to impact future public health policies.  Previous studies of health inequalities in Latin America are often inspired from abroad experiences, encouraging the reproduction of mainly European theoretical positions and methodologies. However, especially when it comes to  this topic, it is known the important role of the social context and culture, playing an important role in promoting differences in health outcomes. From this perspective, to operationalize the different social determinants in health, a critical perspective and thoughtful analysis of the context is mandatory.  In order to provide a critical analysis and useful tools for both research and health decision making, we recommend that the theoretical and methodological approaches used in social health inequalities research must be well adapted to the specific contexts; that health social stratification must be assessed as a priority; that individual and the wider health determinants must be well characterized; and that the theoretical justification of the methodological decisions made in the studies and the selected measures must be explicit and should answer specific hypotheses.  This research provides a brief historical background, to share the basis for the conceptual evolution of social health inequalities; the main underlying concepts related to the definition of health inequalities (social determinants, equity, justice, stratification and social gradient in health); and some recommendations for the future perspectives of health inequalities research in Latin America.


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