scholarly journals TheorTheoretical Implications for the Analysis of Social Health Inequalities: A Discussionetical Implications for the Analysis of Social Health Inequalities: A Discussion

2019 ◽  
pp. 15-25
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
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Social Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Social Health Inequalities ◽  
A Priority

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.

From front-line defence to back‑foot retreat: the diminishment of local government’s role in social health outcomes

2020 ◽  
pp. 347-364
Author(s):  
Michael Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

This chapter investigates the diminishment of local government's role in social health outcomes. The 20th century led to radical improvements in public health across England and the United Kingdom (UK). Modern local government in the UK was born out of a growing concern about the links between social conditions and the state of public health. Yet while 'social determinants of health' has become a global discipline, local government has ceded its role over the last decade as its capacity has withered during the time of austerity. The COVID-19 crisis of 2020 has shown the capacity of local government to mobilise anew around public health issues, but its fundamental fiscal and constitutional weaknesses show that a new settlement is needed more than ever.

Religion, health care, and Africa

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Robert B. Lloyd ◽  
Melissa Haussman ◽  
Patrick James
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World

It is estimated that populations in Africa are afflicted with 24% of the global load of disease with only 13% of the population. This chapter provides theoretical suggestions for studying why this is so. Among these theories are area studies, Africa studies and the World Health Organization’s Social Determinants of Health Framework, which relates social inequality to the study of political and health-providing institutions. The chapter lays out the book’s three case studies and our look at the role of national and international health and secular ngo’s in helping to remedy gendered health inequalities. It lays out the MDG framework of 2000, to be discussed in succeeding chapters.

scholarly journals Evaluating the effect of income support policies on social health inequalities (SHIs) at birth in Montreal and Brussels using a contextualised comparative approach and model family method: a study protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e024015
Author(s):  
Mouctar Sow ◽  
Myriam De Spiegelaere ◽  
Marie-France Raynault
Keyword(s):  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Administrative Databases ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Social Health Inequalities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Model Family

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.

Social Health Inequalities in the Czech Republic

Epidemiology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (Suppl) ◽  
pp. S386-S387
Author(s):  
H Slachtova ◽  
H Tomaskova ◽  
D Skybova ◽  
P Polaufova ◽  
I Tomasek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Health Inequalities ◽  
Social Health ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Social Health Inequalities

scholarly journals Climate change and vector-borne diseases: what are the implications for public health research and policy?

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1665) ◽  
pp. 20130552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum ◽  
Lucien Manga ◽  
Magaran Bagayoko ◽  
Johannes Sommerfeld
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Political Support ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Disease Rates ◽  
The World ◽  
Vector Borne

Vector-borne diseases continue to contribute significantly to the global burden of disease, and cause epidemics that disrupt health security and cause wider socioeconomic impacts around the world. All are sensitive in different ways to weather and climate conditions, so that the ongoing trends of increasing temperature and more variable weather threaten to undermine recent global progress against these diseases. Here, we review the current state of the global public health effort to address this challenge, and outline related initiatives by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners. Much of the debate to date has centred on attribution of past changes in disease rates to climate change, and the use of scenario-based models to project future changes in risk for specific diseases. While these can give useful indications, the unavoidable uncertainty in such analyses, and contingency on other socioeconomic and public health determinants in the past or future, limit their utility as decision-support tools. For operational health agencies, the most pressing need is the strengthening of current disease control efforts to bring down current disease rates and manage short-term climate risks, which will, in turn, increase resilience to long-term climate change. The WHO and partner agencies are working through a range of programmes to (i) ensure political support and financial investment in preventive and curative interventions to bring down current disease burdens; (ii) promote a comprehensive approach to climate risk management; (iii) support applied research, through definition of global and regional research agendas, and targeted research initiatives on priority diseases and population groups.

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