scholarly journals How can social enterprises impact health and well-being?

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 697-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy Gordon ◽  
Juliette Wilson ◽  
Andrea Tonner ◽  
Eleanor Shaw

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of social enterprise on individual and community health and well-being. It focusses on community food initiatives, their impact on the social determinants of health and the influence of structure on their outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Using an interpretive qualitative approach through case studies focussed on two community food social enterprises, the research team conducted observations, interviews and ad hoc conversations. Findings Researchers found that social enterprises impacted all layers of the social determinants of health model but that there was greater impact on individual lifestyle factors and social and community networks. Impact at the higher socio-economic, cultural and environmental layer was more constrained. There was also evidence of the structural factors both enabling and constraining impact at all levels. Practical implications This study helps to facilitate understanding on the role of social enterprises as a key way for individuals and communities to work together to build their capabilities and resilience when facing health inequalities. Building upon previous work, it provides insight into the practices, limitations and challenges of those engaged in encouraging and supporting behavioural changes. Originality/value The paper contributes to a deeper insight of the use, motivation and understanding of social enterprise as an operating model by community food initiatives. It provides evidence of the impact of such social enterprises on the social determinants of health and uses structuration theory (Giddens, 1984) to explore how structure both influences and constrains the impact of these enterprises.

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHANNA AHOLA-LAUNONEN

Abstract:This article discusses the notion of social responsibility for personal health and well-being in bioethics. Although social responsibility is an intrinsic aspect of bioethics, and its role is increasingly recognized in certain areas, it can still be claimed that bioethics in general is committed to an individualistic theoretical framework that disregards the social context in which decisions, health, and well-being are situated. The philosophical premises of this framework regard individuals as rational decisionmakers who can be held accountable for their health conditions and who should be the primary objects of intervention in attempts to reduce lifestyle-associated chronic diseases. There are, however, social determinants of health that challenge this conclusion. Because their impact can be controlled, to a certain extent, by social and public policy decisions, their existence shows the inadequacy of the purely individualistic approach. I suggest, accordingly, that bioethics would benefit, both academically and societally, from a more social perspective. Bioethical studies that acknowledge, from the start, the social determinants of health would be more amenable to constructive multi- and interdisciplinarity, and a more balanced account of responsibility would further the contribution of sound bioethical work to sensible public policies.


Author(s):  
Lucine Francis ◽  
Kelli DePriest ◽  
Marcella Wilson ◽  
Deborah Gross

Social determinants of health (SDOH) refer to the social, economic, and physical conditions in which people live that may affect their health. Poverty, which affects nearly 15 million children in the United States, has far-reaching effects on children’s physical and mental health. Although it is difficult to change a family’s economic circumstances, nurses can play a critical role to address SDOH through screening and effective coordination of care. As nurses, our role is to minimize the effects of SDOH, including poverty, on child health and well-being through our practice, research, and professional education. We present three exemplars of child poverty to demonstrate the impact on child health and well-being and propose a model of care for nurses to assess and address SDOH in the pediatric clinical setting.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah-Anne Munoz ◽  
Jane Farmer ◽  
Rachel Winterton ◽  
Jo Barraket

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an Australian case study and to explore how social enterprises may be conceptualised as spaces of well-being, that is the ways in which social enterprises, not explicitly delivering health services, may be producing health and well-being benefits for those who come into contact with them. Design/methodology/approach – A case study in Australia is used to explore in depth the mechanisms of well-being production. Data were collected using ethnographic observation, focus groups and walking interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis, GIS and the lens of therapeutic assemblage. Findings – The case study social enterprise produces well-being as integration, capability, security and therapy. The social enterprise acts as a therapeutic assemblage with well-being “spoken”, “practiced” and “felt” within the social enterprise. The ways in which well-being is generated are often linked to the productive element of enterprise – and have the potential to contribute to tackling several contemporary health challenges and inequalities relating to, for example, a lack of physical activity and levels of social isolation. Research limitations/implications – This paper draws on a single Australian case study but points to the need for further in-depth work in the area of social enterprise and health. Originality/value – The paper advances our understanding of how social enterprises may be linked to health and well-being. It goes beyond quantification of, for example, number of clients helped, to consider the wider experience of well-being for those who come into contact with social enterprises.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Farmer ◽  
Tracy De Cotta ◽  
Katharine McKinnon ◽  
Jo Barraket ◽  
Sarah-Anne Munoz ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to explore the well-being impacts of social enterprise, beyond a social enterprise per se, in everyday community life. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study was used. The study’s underpinning theory is from relational geography, including Spaces of Wellbeing Theory and therapeutic assemblage. These theories underpin data collection methods. Nine social enterprise participants were engaged in mental mapping and walking interviews. Four other informants with “boundary-spanning” roles involving knowledge of the social enterprise and the community were interviewed. Data were managed using NVivo, and analysed thematically. Findings Well-being realised from “being inside” a social enterprise organisation was further developed for participants, in the community, through positive interactions with people, material objects, stories and performances of well-being that occurred in everyday community life. Boundary spanning community members had roles in referring participants to social enterprise, mediating between participants and structures of community life and normalising social enterprise in the community. They also gained benefit from social enterprise involvement. Originality/value This paper uses relational geography and aligned methods to reveal the intricate connections between social enterprise and well-being realisation in community life. There is potential to pursue this research on a larger scale to provide needed evidence about how well-being is realised in social enterprises and then extends into communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edna Johana Mondragón-Sánchez ◽  
Reinaldo Gutiérrez Barreiro ◽  
Marcos Venícios de Oliveira Lopes ◽  
Ana Karina Bezerra Pinheiro ◽  
Priscila de Souza Aquino ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze the impact of the Colombian Peace Agreement on the structural social determinants of health. Methods: a descriptive, ecological study, based on documentary data from 2008 to 2018. The records of victims, epidemiological indicators, and structural social determinants of health in Colombia were analyzed. Results: there was a correlation between the period in which the Peace Agreement process was developed and the indicators of structural determinants in health with p<0.05. With the Poisson regression analysis, the favorable correlations between the peace process and the determinants were confirmed, besides allowing the understanding of the changes in these indicators before the Peace Agreement. Conclusions: the implementation of the peace process has a positive impact on structural social determinants of health, which is observed by the beginning of the decrease of economic, educational, health, and social inequalities and inequities, a fact that offers the possibility of living in peace.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-99
Author(s):  
Sarah V. Suiter ◽  
C. Danielle Wilfong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore women’s experiences in one such social enterprise, and to analyze the ways in which this social enterprise supports and/or undermines its employees’ health and well-being. Finding and keeping employment during recovery from addiction is a strong predictor of women’s ability to maintain sobriety and accomplish other important life goals. Many treatment organizations have programs that support job readiness and acquisition; however, less priority is placed on the quality of the workplaces and their consequences for continued health and well-being. Social enterprises that exist for the purpose of employing women in recovery have the potential to be health-promoting workspaces, but understanding how health is supported for this particular population is important. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides an ethnographic account of Light Collective, a social enterprise run by women in recovery from addiction. Data were collected through 2 years of participant observation, 38 interviews and 2 focus groups. Data were analysed using a grounded theory approach. Findings Light Collective provides a health-promoting workplace by keeping barriers to employment low and making work hours and expectations individualized and flexible. Furthermore, the organization creates a setting in which work is developmentally nurturing, provides the opportunity for meaningful mastery and serves to build community amongst women who are often marginalized and isolated in more traditional contexts. Originality/value This study contributes to literature exploring the potential for social enterprises to create health-promoting workplaces by focusing the types of workplace commitments required to support a particularly vulnerable population. This study also explores some of the challenges and contradictions inherent in trying to create health-promoting work environments vis-à-vis the constraints of broader economic systems.


Author(s):  
Joia S. Mukherjee

This chapter focuses on the social determinants of health. The phrase—the social determinants of health—is used to describe the factors and forces in society that cause ill health and premature death. To achieve health equity, it is important to understand the impact of social determinants and work to mitigate their adverse health effects. The practice of social medicine uses a biosocial approach that merges biomedical science with social analysis to design programs that strive for health equity. Because of the historical and geopolitical forces that have shaped global inequities, social medicine and a biosocial approach are important in global health and health equity and are addressed in this chapter.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3-4 (213-214) ◽  
pp. 82-87
Author(s):  
Dariya Doskabulova ◽  
◽  
Arstan Mamyrbaev ◽  
Artashes Tadevosyan ◽  
Aiman Kaldybaeva ◽  
...  

The formation of the health of adolescent children is carried out under the influence of many risk factors, including non-medical determinants: lifestyle, socio-economic, household factors and living conditions. Conducting epidemiological studies to identify the leading risk factors for the lifestyle and quality of life of adolescents is currently consistent with the basic directions of development of preventive medicine. Aim. Analysis of literature data, leading factors, the impact of social determinants on the health and well-being of children and adolescents. Material and methods. The choice of publications was made according to keywords that reflected between the indicators of the health of children and adolescents and the factors that influence them. Assessment of the influence of social determinants on the health of children and adolescents made it possible to prepare comprehensive measures to improve the health and health of children and adolescents. Conclusions. In the literature review, the social conditions studied have a decisive influence on the formation of the lifestyle, health and well-being of children and adolescents. Keywords: сhildren, adolescents, social determinant.


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