Social Networks and Health Inequalities
Title | Social Networks and Health Inequalities PDF eBook |
Author | Andreas Klärner |
Publisher | Springer Nature |
Total Pages | 342 |
Release | 2022-06-21 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 3030977226 |
This open access book applies insights from the network perspective in health research to explain the reproduction of health inequalities. It discusses the extant literature in this field that strongly correlates differences in social status with health behaviours and outcomes, and add to this literature by providing a coherent theoretical explanation for the causes of these health inequalities. It also shows that much research is needed on the precise factors and the social and socio-psychological mechanisms that are at play in creating and cementing social inequalities in health behaviours. While social support and social relations have received considerable attention within social and behavioural science research on health inequalities, this book considers the whole network of interpersonal relations, structures and influence mechanisms. This is the perspective of the social network analytical approach which has recently gained much attention in health research. The chapters of this book cover state-of-the-art research, open research questions, and perspectives for future research. The book provides network analyses on health inequalities from the perspective of sociology, psychology, and public health and is of interest to a wide range of scholars, students and practitioners trying to understand how health inequalities are reproduced across generations.
Communities in Action
Title | Communities in Action PDF eBook |
Author | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
Publisher | National Academies Press |
Total Pages | 583 |
Release | 2017-04-27 |
Genre | Medical |
ISBN | 0309452961 |
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Social Networks and Popular Understanding of Science and Health
Title | Social Networks and Popular Understanding of Science and Health PDF eBook |
Author | Brian G. Southwell |
Publisher | JHU Press |
Total Pages | 148 |
Release | 2013-10-01 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1421413256 |
A data-driven analysis of how different people share information about health through social media. Using social media and peer-to-peer networks to teach people about science and health may seem like an obvious strategy. Yet recent research suggests that systematic reliance on social networks may be a recipe for inequity. People are not consistently inclined to share information with others around them, and many people are constrained by factors outside of their immediate control. Ironically, the highly social nature of humankind complicates the extent to which we can live in a society united solely by electronic media. Stretching well beyond social media, this book documents disparate tendencies in the ways people learn and share information about health and science. By reviewing a wide array of existing research—ranging from a survey of New Orleans residents in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina to analysis of Twitter posts related to H1N1 to a physician-led communication campaign explaining the benefits of vaginal birth—Brian G. Southwell explains why some types of information are more likely to be shared than others and how some people never get exposed to seemingly widely available information. This book will appeal to social science students and citizens interested in the role of social networks in information diffusion and yet it also serves as a cautionary tale for communication practitioners and policymakers interested in leveraging social ties as an inexpensive method to spread information.
Participatory Health Through Social Media
Title | Participatory Health Through Social Media PDF eBook |
Author | Shabbir Syed-Abdul |
Publisher | Academic Press |
Total Pages | 164 |
Release | 2016-06-10 |
Genre | Health & Fitness |
ISBN | 0128095482 |
Participatory Health through Social Media explores how traditional models of healthcare can be delivered differently through social media and online games, and how these technologies are changing the relationship between patients and healthcare professionals, as well as their impact on health behavior change. The book also examines how the hospitals, public health authorities, and inspectorates are currently using social media to facilitate both information distribution and collection. Also looks into the opportunities and risks to record and analyze epidemiologically relevant data retrieved from the Internet, social media, sensor data, and other digital sources. The book encompasses topics such as patient empowerment, gamification and social games, and the relationships between social media, health behavior change, and health communication crisis during epidemics. Additionally, the book analyzes the possibilities of big data generated through social media. Authored by IMIA Social Media working group, this book is a valuable resource for healthcare researchers and professionals, as well as clinicians interested in using new media as part of their practice or research. Presents a multidisciplinary point of view providing the readers with a broader perspective Brings the latest case studies and technological advances in the area, supported by an active international community of members who actively work in this area Endorsed by IMIA Social Media workgroup, guaranteeing trustable information from the most relevant experts on the subject Examines how the hospitals, public health authorities, and inspectorates are currently using social media to facilitate both information distribution and collection
Social Networks and Health Inequalities (SoNeHI)
Title | Social Networks and Health Inequalities (SoNeHI) PDF eBook |
Author | Andreas Klärner |
Publisher | |
Total Pages | |
Release | 2021 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
Disparities In Health and Social Support Systems
Title | Disparities In Health and Social Support Systems PDF eBook |
Author | Andreas Klärner |
Publisher | Independent Author |
Total Pages | 0 |
Release | 2023-05-10 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9781805299820 |
all countries of the world on the basis of different health indicators (see, e.g., Mackenbach et al., 2018; Marmot, 2005). However, the sentence does not ask about your own income, but about the income of your friends. Is this information really meaningful? Does it really make a difference to your own health which friends you have, who you surround yourself with in your everyday life and what social position these people have? In scientific terms, this sentence establishes a connection between the social position of actors in a person's network of relationships and their own health behavior, morbidity, and mortality. The information about the social status of a person's friends-they may also be family members, colleagues, neighbors, or other more distant acquaintances-is thus intended to provide us with conclusions about health behavior, susceptibility to certain diseases and life expectancy, and possibly about stratum-specific differences in health. If family members live together and share a common household, it is likely that they will have similar health behavior, health risks and stresses, and influences on life expectancy and hereditary diseases. But do people from an individual's wider circle of friends and acquaintances also have an influence on their own health?What new perspectives and insights in connection with health and health inequality can the examination of social relationships yield? This question will be addressed in the contributions to this anthology. The authors ask not only whether individual social relationships (such as a friend who smokes and encourages others to smoke) have an influence on individual health, but also the interaction within one's own social network. Is someone's health or health behavior more influenced by people who are similar or dissimilar? In short, the contributions in this volume ask whether the structure of social relationships-the social networks in which we are all embedded in our perception, thinking, and acting-has an influence on us in that we are more likely to feel psychologically distressed, fall ill, or die earlier than others. This also raises the question of whether the study of social networks and the occupation with sociological and now interdisciplinary network research can contribute to understanding and explaining health inequalities. This anthology is the result of several years of collaboration between researchers from different disciplines (sociology, medical sociology, psychology, public health, education, health sciences) with different theoretical and methodological orientations. The collaboration has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as the Scientific Network "Social Networks and Health Inequalities (SoNegU)" for a period of four years since 2016. The aims of the network were (1) to make sociological network research better known, especially in the German-speaking health research community, and (2) to make the network perspective fertile for the explanation of health inequalities. The aim of this book is to present the current state of research, identify research needs, and point out perspectives for future research. This introduction aims to show that the inclusion of the network.
Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life
Title | Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life PDF eBook |
Author | National Research Council |
Publisher | National Academies Press |
Total Pages | 753 |
Release | 2004-10-16 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0309092116 |
In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.