Advances and Challenges of Social Epidemiology – the social determinants of health revisited (literature review)

• Authors: Zuzanna Drożdżak

Title variants

PL

Postępy i wyzwania epidemiologii społecznej – raz jeszcze o społecznych uwarunkowaniach zdrowia (przegląd literatury)

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This literature review revisits the concept of “social determinants of health” in light of new scientific findings and points to key research directions in modern social epidemiology. Recent evidence suggests that not only poverty but also inequality and perceived inferiority exert a detrimental influence on one’s health. It is also now clear that socioeconomic position influences health via various pathways, such as health behaviors, access to health care, environmental exposure, and psychosocial processes. At the same time, there is no definite conclusion as to the leading mechanism that would translate social position into morbidity and mortality. The need for causal explanations has opened up an important field for sociological investigation. Given its increasing international currency and the need to broadly address social inequalities in policy actions, it is time to bring this highly meaningful topic also to our research agenda.

PL

Celem tego przeglądu literatury jest przedstawienie najnowszego stanu wiedzy na temat „społecznych uwarunkowań zdrowia”, a przez to zwrócenie uwagi szerokiego grona polskich socjologów na społecznie generowane nierówności w zdrowiu. Według najnowszych doniesień naukowych nie tylko ekonomiczna deprywacja, ale również subiektywne poczucie niższości wywierają szkodliwy wpływ na zdrowie. Wiadomo też, że pozycja socjoekonomiczna oddziałuje na zdrowie za pośrednictwem zachowań zdrowotnych, dostępu do opieki zdrowotnej, ryzyk środowiskowych i czynników psychospołecznych. Jednocześnie brakuje konsensu co do istoty tego mechanizmu. Potrzeba przyczynowego wyjaśnienia tego zjawiska otwiera nowe, interesujące wątki badawcze dla socjologów. Z uwagi na wielką międzynarodową popularność tej tematyki, jak również jej ogromne znaczenie społeczne, warto zintensyfikować badania socjologiczne w tej dziedzinie.

Keywords

EN

social determinants of health; health inequalities; literature review; SES; socioeconomic status

PL

społeczne uwarunkowania zdrowia; nierówności w zdrowiu; przegląd literatury; SES; status socjoekonomiczny

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Studia Socjologiczne
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 4(219)
• Pages: 127-158

Contributors

author

Zuzanna Drożdżak

• Centrum Ewaluacji i Analiz Polityk Publicznych Wydział Filozoficzny Uniwersytet Jagielloński, ul. Gołębia 24, 31-007 Kraków

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