Health Power Resources Theory: A Relational Approach to the Study of Health Inequalities

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-511
Author(s):  
Megan M. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Fundamental Causes ◽  
Political Economy Of Health ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
Fundamental Cause ◽  
Sociology Of Health

Link and Phelan’s pioneering 1995 theory of fundamental causes urged health scholars to consider the macro-level contexts that “put people at risk of risks.” Allied research on the political economy of health has since aptly demonstrated how institutions contextualize risk factors for health. Yet scant research has fully capitalized on either fundamental cause or political economy of health’s allusion to power relations as a determinant of persistent inequalities in population health. I address this oversight by advancing a theory of health power resources that contends that power relations distribute and translate the meaning (i.e., necessity, value, and utility) of socioeconomic and health-relevant resources. This occurs through stratification, commodification, discrimination, and devitalization. Resurrecting historical sociological emphases on power relations provides an avenue through which scholars can more fully understand the patterning of population health and better connect the sociology of health and illness to the central tenets of the discipline.

scholarly journals An uncritical encounter between anthropology and psychiatry

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhrigupati Singh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Mental Health And Illness ◽  
Political Economy Of Health ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
Two Bodies

In what ways do two bodies of knowledge meet? Anthropology and psychiatry most often meet in a mood of mutual suspicion, the danger of which is that each confronts (or avoids) the other as a straw man. In this introduction I describe a refreshingly different encounter in which a group of psychiatrists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi respond to an anthropological text, Veena Das’s 'Affliction: Health, Disease, Poverty', which engages with lives and issues quite similar to those encountered by these psychiatrists in their clinical practice. Rather than rehearsing relatively predictable debates (for instance on the importance, or lack thereof, of ‘culture’, often assumed to be the sole meeting ground between anthropology and psychiatry), what is instead surprising in the psychiatrists’ engagement with Affliction is their recognition of a shared terrain of uncertainty and complexity that moves across the realms of the spiritual, the ‘vernacular’ uses of biomedical terms, and the political economy of health. I outline three domains of inquiry that this interdisciplinary discussion opens up as regards the study of mental health and illness: 1) ecologies, circuits, and tempos rather than institutions and subjectivity; 2) not-yet ontologies and etiologies; and 3) methodological consequences, beyond quantitative/qualitative divides and towards patterns, singularities, and modes of attunement.

The Political Economy of Public Health: Challenges for Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 841-856
Author(s):  
Ted Schrecker
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Public Health Ethics ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Health Ethics ◽  
Political Economy Of Health ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
Public Health Challenges

As an analytical approach, the political economy of health “requires attention to the political and economic structures, processes and power relationships that produce” distributions of health and illness, in the words of epidemiologist Nancy Krieger. This chapter demonstrates the value of this approach with reference to domestic and global cases and is organized around three key messages. First, public finance is a public health issue. Second, the transnational corporate role in the spread of disease must be taken into account in public health ethics. Third, ethics and politics cannot be separated in public health. The chapter concludes with three challenges for building a public health ethics that “speaks truth about power” in an increasingly inhospitable policy environment.

Organized Labor and Depression in Europe: Making Power Explicit in the Political Economy of Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 342-358
Author(s):  
Megan M. Reynolds ◽  
Veerle Buffel
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Union Density ◽  
Organized Labor ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Political Economy Of Health

Despite engagement with the construct of power relations, research on the political economy of health has largely overlooked organized labor as a determinant of well-being. Grounded in the theory of power resources, our study aims to fill this gap by investigating the link between country-level union density and mental health while accounting for the compositional effects of individual-level union membership. We use three waves of the European Social Survey (N = 52,737) and a variation on traditional random-effects models to estimate both the contextual and change effects of labor unions on depressive symptoms. We find that country-level union density is associated with fewer depressive symptoms and that this is true irrespective of union membership. We discuss our findings vis-à-vis the literatures on the political economy of health, power resources, and fundamental causes of disease.

scholarly journals Exploring the role of gender and women in the political economy of health in armed conflict: a narrative review

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Meagher ◽  
Bothaina Attal ◽  
Preeti Patel
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Health Systems Strengthening ◽  
The Political ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Political Economy Of Health ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Background The ripple effects of protracted armed conflicts include: significant gender-specific barriers to accessing essential services such as health, education, water and sanitation and broader macroeconomic challenges such as increased poverty rates, higher debt burdens, and deteriorating employment prospects. These factors influence the wider social and political determinants of health for women and a gendered analysis of the political economy of health in conflict may support strengthening health systems during conflict. This will in turn lead to equality and equity across not only health, but broader sectors and systems, that contribute to sustainable peace building. Methods The methodology employed is a multidisciplinary narrative review of the published and grey literature on women and gender in the political economy of health in conflict. Results The existing literature that contributes to the emerging area on the political economy of health in conflict has overlooked gender and specifically the role of women as a critical component. Gender analysis is incorporated into existing post-conflict health systems research, but this does not extend to countries actively affected by armed conflict and humanitarian crises. The analysis also tends to ignore the socially constructed patriarchal systems, power relations and gender norms that often lead to vastly different health system needs, experiences and health outcomes. Conclusions Detailed case studies on the gendered political economy of health in countries impacted by complex protracted conflict will support efforts to improve health equity and understanding of gender relations that support health systems strengthening.

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