unit 2 - social and community context

Question 1

goal:

Answer 1

increase social and community support

Question 2

Increase social and community support - four main components

Answer 2

• Civic participation
• Perceptions of discrimination
  and equity
• Incarceration/Institutionalization
• Social cohesion/capital

Question 3

civica pariticpation

Answer 3

A range of formal and informal activities
Primary benefits
- Individual activities that benefit society - voting
- Group activities that benefit either the group - volunteering, community gardening, memberships in formal groups
members or society
Secondary benefits
- Health benefits for participants

Question 4

discrimination

Answer 4

• Socially structured action that is unfair or
  unjustified and harms individuals or groups
• Different population groups affected: LGBTQ,
  racial/ethnic minorities, elderly, and people with
  disabilities
• Examples: residential segregation, being treated
  with less respect or courtesy than other people;
  disparities in education; variance in criminal justice
  policy
• Result: high physical and emotional health costs

Question 5

incarceration

Answer 5

“the number of inmates under the jurisdiction of state or federal prisons
or held in local jails”
* The incarceration rate in the United States is substantially increasing which may be
linked to harsher sentencing rules
* The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any other country in the world
* At the end of 2020, there were approximately 2.3 million people incarcerated

Question 6

racial and ethnic disparities prison system

Answer 6

• Already at risk for poor
  health
• Higher burden of chronic
  diseases
  At risk for:
• Substance use disorders
• Psychiatric disorders
• Victimization
• Infectious diseases

Question 7

social cohesion

Answer 7

• Relationships are conceptualized through terms such as:
• Social cohesion – strength of relationships and the sense of solidarity
  among members of a community; collective efficacy
• Social networks – webs of social relationships which may also
  influence social patterning of health (positively or negatively)
• Social support – emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal
  support
• Social capital – shared group resources

Question 8

social capital as a determinant of population health

Answer 8

• Social relationships and social support have powerful effects on
  physical health, mental health, and the well-being of individuals
• Improved health cannot be obtained without social connections and
  citizen involvement
• Social capital can also be considered as a cognitive measure
  (ethics, value systems, religious beliefs, social cohesion, and trust)
• Strong relationship between social capital, income inequality, and
  mortality

Question 9

purpose of research study

Answer 9

• To understand the association of social capital with three
  dimensions of health from a global perspective:
• Physical – measured using life expectancy, infant mortality, and
  self-rated health indicators
• Mental – measured using stress index and addition of smoking
• Well-Being – measured using the index of happiness

Question 10

data collection

Answer 10

• Cross-sectional analysis of data from 61 countries to explain the
  relationship of social capital and other variables related with health
  outcomes
• World Bank – Life expectancy at birth; infant mortality; smoking
• World Values Survey – self-rated health; stress; social trust
• Additional variables on health expenditures, number of physicians and
  nurses (per 1,000 people), immunizations, education, improved water and
  sanitation, social trust, total population living in each country….

Question 11

notables

Answer 11

 Trust is negatively associated with smoking male, smoking
female, and stress
 Increased level of trust reduces the smoking pattern of male

 Social capital increases one’s happiness not community-level
happiness
 Higher educational attainment leads to more happiness
 Improved sanitation leads to longer life expectancy and
reduced infant mortality

Question 12

other possible determinants to consider

Answer 12

Life expectancy is positively and
significantly associated with all
these variables
All these variables have a negative
and significant relationship with
infant mortality
Self-related health – positive and
significant relationship with all but hospital
per bed

Question 13

conclusion

Answer 13

• Social networks, social connections, and the support from others appear
  to be strong predictors of health and well-being
• Social capital has a powerful effect on multiple dimensions of health
• Appropriate awareness needs to be created about the strength of social
  capital to avoid health losses as the result of stress

Question 14

policy implications

Answer 14

• Social trust is an important element to shaping a healthier community
• Trust-based health policies would be beneficial for a healthy environment
• Policy intervention should be aimed to improve primarily individual social
  capital > will contribute to improved community social capital
• Governments could make policies that promote social inclusion and
  discourage exclusion, by promoting gender equality, political, cultural
  and social activities