By Paul R Ward1, Samantha B Meyer 1, Fiona Verity2, Tiffany K Gill3,
and Tini CN Luong1
1Discipline of Public Health, Flinders University, Australia
2Department of Social Work and Social Planning, Flinders University,
Australia
3Population Research & Outcome Studies, Discipline of Medicine,
University of Adelaide, Australia
BMC Public Health 2011, 11:630 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-630 August 2011
“…….In order to improve the health of the most vulnerable groups in society,
the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) called for
multi-sectoral action, which requires research and policy on the multiple and
inter-linking factors shaping health outcomes. Most conceptual tools available
to researchers tend to focus on singular and specific social determinants of
health (SDH) (e.g. social capital, empowerment, social inclusion).
However, a new and innovative conceptual framework, known as social quality
theory, facilitates a more complex and complete understanding of the SDH, with
its focus on four domains: social cohesion, social inclusion, social empowerment
and socioeconomic security, all within the same conceptual framework. This
paper provides both an overview of social quality theory in addition to findings from
a national survey of social quality in Australia, as a means of demonstrating the
operationalisation of the theory.
Methods
Data were collected using a national random postal survey of 1044 respondents in
September, 2009. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted.
Results
Statistical analysis revealed that people on lower incomes (less than $45000)
experience worse social quality across all of the four domains: lower socio-economic
security, lower levels of membership of organisations (lower social cohesion),
higher levels of discrimination and less political action (lower social inclusion) and
lower social empowerment. The findings were mixed in terms of age, with people
over 65 years experiencing lower socio-economic security, but having higher levels
of social cohesion, experiencing lower levels of discrimination (higher social
inclusion) and engaging in more political action (higher social empowerment). In
terms of gender, women had higher social cohesion than men, although also
experienced more discrimination (lower social inclusion).
Conclusions
Applying social quality theory allows researchers and policy makers to measure
and respond to the multiple sources of oppression and advantage experienced
by certain population groups, and to monitor the effectiveness of interventions
over time…………”
TEXTO COMPLETO DISPONIBLE AQUÍ