Thursday, 16 April 2015

Social Capital and Health - want to read more?

It's struck me that my list of references on social capital and health and wellbeing might be of interest to some folk - so here it is!


Social Capital and Health - References

ABEL, G., PLUMRIDGE, L. & GRAHAM, P. (2002) Peers, networks or relationships: Strategies for understanding social dynamics as determinants of smoking behaviour. Drugs: Education, prevention and policy, 9, 325-338.
ATKIN, K., STAPLEY, S. & EASTON, A. (2010) No one listens to me, nobody believes me’: Self management and the experience of living with encephalitis. Social Science and Medicine., (in press).
BABB, P. (2005) Measurement of social capital in the UK. Office for National Statistics.
BANKSTON, C. L. & ZHOU, M. (2002) Social Capital as a Process: The Meanings and Problems of a Theoretical Metaphor. Sociological Inquiry 72, 285-317.
BARTLEY, M. (2004) Health Inequality: An introduction to theories, concepts and methods, Polity Press, Cambridge.
BAUM, F. (1999) Social Capital: Is It Good for Your Health? Issues for a Public Health Agenda. J Epidemiol Community Health, 53, 195 - 196.
BENTLEY, C. (2008) Systematically Addressing Health Inequalities., Department of Health.
BERKMAN, L. F., GLASS, T., BRISSETTE, I. & SEEMAN, T. E. (2000) From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51, 843-857.
BERKMAN, L. F. & SYME, S. L. (1979) SOCIAL NETWORKS, HOST RESISTANCE, AND MORTALITY: A NINE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP STUDY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY RESIDENTS. Am. J. Epidemiol., 109, 186-204.
BEYERS, B., BROWN, J., CHO, S., DESAUTELS, A., GASKA, K., HORSLEY, K., ITON, T., LEE, T., MAKER, L., MARTIN, J., MURGAI, N., SCHAFF, K., WITT, S. & ANDERSON, S. (2008) Life and death from unnatural causes: Health and social inequity in Almeda County.
BLAXTER, M. (2004) Questions and their meanings in social capital surveys. IN MORGAN, A. & SWANN, C. (Eds.) Social capital for health: issues of definition, measurement and links to health. London, Health Development Agency.
BORGONOVI, F. (2010) A life cycle approach to the analysis of the relationship between social capital and health in Britain. Social Science & Medicine, 71, 1927-1934.
BOURDIEU, P. (1985) The forms of capital. . IN RICHARDSON, J. G. (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, . New York, Greenwood.
BOWLES, S. & GINTIS, H. (2002) Social Capital and Community Governance. The Economic Journal 419-436.
CAMPBELL, C. (2000) Social Capital and Health: Contextualizing Health Promotion with Local Community Networks. Social Capital: Critical Perspectives.
CASIDAY, R., KINSMAN, E., FISHER, C. & BAMBRA, C. (2008) Volunteering and Health; What Impact Does It Really Have? London, Volunteering England.
CHIU, L. F. (2008) Engaging communities in health intervention research/practice. Critical Public Health, 18, 151-159.
CHRISTAKIS, N. A. & FOWLER, J. H. (2007) The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years. N Engl J Med, 357, 370-379.
CHRISTAKIS, N. A. M. D. P. D. M. P. H. & FOWLER, J. H. P. D. (2008) The Collective Dynamics of Smoking in a Large Social Network. New England Journal of Medicine, 358, 2249-2258.
COOPER, H., ARBER, S., FEE, L. & GINN, J. (1999) The influence of social support and social capital on health: a review and analysis of British data. . London: Health Education Authority.
COULTHARD, M., WALKER, A. & MORGAN, A. (2001) Assessing people's perceptions of their neighbourhood and community involvement., London, Health Development Agency.
COUZIN, J. (2009) SOCIAL SCIENCE: Friendship as a Health Factor. Science, 323, 454-457.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (1999a) Building healthy communities and tackling inequalities. . London:HMSO.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (1999b) Involvement works. The second report of the standing group on consumers in NHS research. . London: HMSO.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2004) Choosing health: making healthy choices easier. . Stationery Office, London.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2006) Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services. London, Department of Health.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2009a) Communities for Health: Unlocking the energy within communities to improve health. London.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2009b) World Class Commissioning: Adding life to years and years to life. Crown Copyright
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2010) Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS. London: HMSO.
DICKERSON, S. S. & KEMENY, M. E. (2004) Acute Stressors and Cortisol Responses: A Theoretical Integration and Synthesis of Laboratory Research. . Psychological Bulletin, 130, 355-391.
ERBEN, R., FRANZKOWIAK, P. & WENZEL, E. (1999) People Empowerment vs Social Capital: From Health Promotion to Social Marketing. Health Promotion Journal of Australia., 9, (3), 179-182.
FIELD, J. (2003) Social Capital, London, Routledge.
FOWLER, J. & CHRISTAKIS, N. (2008) Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years. . British Medical Journal, 337.
GILLIES, P. (1998) Effectiveness of alliances and partnerships for health promotion. Health Promotion International, 13, 99-120.
GRAHAM, H. (2007) Unequal Lives: Health and Socioeconomic Inequalities, Maidenhead, Open University Press.
GREEN, H. & FLETCHER, L. (2003) Social Capital Harmonised Question Set: A guide to questions for use in the measurement of social capital. Social and Vital Statistics Division. Office for National Statistics.
HALPERN, D. (2005) Social Capital, Cambridge, Polity Press.
HARPER, R. (2001) Social Capital: A review of the literature. Social Analysis and Reporting Division, Office for National Statistics.
HARPER, R. & KELLY, M. (2003) Measuring Social Capital in the United Kingdom, Office for National Statistics.
HAWE, P. & SHIELL, A. (2000) Social capital and health promotion: a review. Social Science & Medicine, 51, 871-885.
HOLLAND, S. (2007) Public health ethics, London, Polity Press.
HONGORO, C. & MCPAKE, B. (2004) How to bridge the gap in human resources for health. The Lancet, 364, 1451-1456.
HOUSE, J. S., LANDIS, K. R. & UMBERSON, D. (1988) Social Relationships and Health. Science, 241, 540-545.
KAWACHI, I. (1997) Long Live Community: Social Capital as Public Health. The American Prospect, November/December, 56 - 59.
KAWACHI, I. & BERKMAN, L. (2000) Social cohesion, social capital and health. Social Epidemiology.
KAWACHI, I., KENNEDY, B., LOCHNER, K. & PROTHROW-STITH, D. (1997) Social Capital, Income Inequality, and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1491 - 1498.
KUKLA, R. (2005) Conscientious Autonomy: Displacing Decisions in Health Care. The Hastings Center Report., 35, 34-44.
LAVERACK, G. & WALLERSTEIN, N. (2001) Measuring community empowerment: a fresh look at organizational domains. Health Promot. Int., 16, 179-185.
LEWIN, S., DICK, J., POND, P., ZWARENSTEIN, M., AJA, G., VAN WYK, B., BOSCH-CAPBLANCH, X. & PATRICK, M. (2005) Lay health workers in primary and community health care. . Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
MARMOT, M., ALLEN, J., MCNEISH, D., GRADY, M., GOLDBLATT, P., BOYCE, T. & GEDDES, I. (2010) Fair Society, Healthy Lives: The Marmot Review, University College London
MARMOT, M. G. (2009) Marmot Review: First Phase Report. Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post 2010. Global Health Equity Group.
MASON, A. R., CARR HILL, R., MYERS, L. A. & STREET, A. D. (2008) Establishing the economics of engaging communities in health promotion: what is desirable, what is feasible? Critical Public Health, 18, 285 - 297.
MICHIE, S., JOCHELSON, K., MARKHAM, W. & BRIDLE, C. (2008) Low income groups and behaviour change interventions: A review of intervention content and effectiveness. Kings Fund, London.
MOHAN, J., TWIGG, L., BARNARD, S. & JONES, K. (2005) Social capital, geography and health: a small- area analysis for England. Soc Sci Med, 60, 1267 - 1283.
MORGAN, A. & SWANN, C. (2004) Social capital for health: issues of definition, measurement and links to health. Health Development Agency.
MORRISSEY, M., MCGINN, P. & MCDONNELL, B. (2002) Ceni Report: Evaluating Community-Based and Voluntary Activity in Northern Ireland. The Voluntary & Community Unit, DSD.
MORROW, G. (1999) Conceptualising social capital in relation to the well-being of children and young people: a critical review. . The Sociological Review 44: , 744-65.
NARAYAN, D. & CASSIDY, M. (2001) A dimensional approach to measuring social capital: development and validation of a social capital inventory. Current Sociology 49: , 59-102.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND CLINICAL EXCELLENCE (2008) Community engagement to improve health NICE public health guidance 9.
NECKERMAN, K. M. & TORCHE, F. (2007) Inequality: Causes and Consequences. Annual Review of Sociology, 33, 335-357.
NEMCEK, M. & SABATIER, R. (2003) State of Evaluation: Community Health Workers. Public Health Nursing, 20, 260-270.
NUTBEAM, D. & KICKBUSCH, I. (2000) Advancing health literacy: a global challenge for the 21st century. Health Promot. Int., 15, 183-184.
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (2004) Mental health and social exclusion. Social Exclusion Unit, London.
PEARCE, J. & MILNE, E. (2010) Participation and community on Bradford’s traditionally white estates. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
PEARCE, N. & DAVEY-SMITH, G. (2003) Is social capital the key to inequalities in health? . America Journal of Public Health, , 93(1). 122-129.
PEARCE, N. & DAVEY SMITH, G. (2003) Is social capital the key to inequalities in health? Am J Public Health, 93, 122 - 129.
POPAY, J., ATTREE, P., HORNBY, D., MILTON, B., WHITEHEAD, M., FRENCH, B., KOWARZIK, U., SIMPSON, N. & POVALL, S. (2007) Community engagement in initiatives addressing the wider social determinants of health: A rapid review of evidence on impact, experience and process. Social Determinants Effectiveness Review, National Collaborating Centre for Community Engagement.
PORTES, A. (1998) Social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 1 - 24.
PUTNAM, R. D. (1993) Making Democracy Work: civic traditions in modern Italy., Princeton., Princeton University Press.
PUTNAM, R. D. (1995) Bowling alone: America's Declining Social Capital. Journal of Democracy, 6, 65 - 78.
PUTNAM, R. D. (2000) Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community, New York, Simon and Schuster.
REQUENA, F. (2003) Social Capital, Satisfaction and Quality of Life in the Workplace. Social Indicators Research, 61, 331-360.
RHODES, J. E. (2004) Family, friends, and community: The role of social support in promoting health. IN CAMIC, P. & KNIGHT, S. (Eds.) Clinical handbook of health psychology: A practical guide to effective interventions. 2nd ed. OH, US, Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.
SCHMID, A. (2000) Affinity as social capital: its role in development. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 29, 159.
SCHULMAN, M. D. & ANDERSON, C. (1999) The Dark Side of the Force: A Case Study of Restructuring and Social Capital1. Rural Sociology, 64, 351-372.
SCOTT, D. R., KRISTIE LONG, F., CARLOS, S. Z. & FRED, R. B. (2007) Lay Health Advisor Interventions Among Hispanics/Latinos: A Qualitative Systematic Review. American journal of preventive medicine, 33, 418-427.
SCULL, S. (2001) Social Capital. A briefing paper for Module Development. . West Morton Public Health Unit Queensland HealthPublic Health Unit Queensland Health.
SOUBEYRAN, A. & WEBER, A. (2002) District formation and local social capital: a (tacit) co-opetition approach. . Journal of Urban Economics 52, 65-92.
SOUTH, J., MEAH, A. & BAGNALL, A.-M. (2010a) People in Public Health - a study of approaches to develop and support people in public health roles. NIHR Service Delivery and Organisation Programme.
SOUTH, J., RAINE, G. & WHITE, J. (2010b) Community Health Champions: Evidence Review. Centre for Health Promotion Research, Leeds Metropolitan University.
STANSFIELD, S. A. & MARMOT, M. G. (2002) Stress & the Heart: Psychosocial Pathways to Coronary Heart Disease. , BMJ Books. .
STEPHENS, C. (2008) Social capital in its place: Using social theory to understand social capital and inequalities in health. Social Science & Medicine, 66, 1174-1184.
SUBRAMANIAN, S. V., LOCHNER, K. A. & KAWACHI, I. (2003) Neighborhood differences in social capital: a compositional artifact or a contextual construct? Health & Place, 9, 33-44.
SUGDEN, R. (2009) On Nudging: A Review of "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness" by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 16, 365 - 373.
SUNSTEIN, C. R. & THALER, R. H. (2009) Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, London, Penguin.
SZRETER, S. & WOOLCOCK, M. (2004) Health by association? Social capital, social theory, and the political economy of public health. Int J Epidemiol, 33, 650 - 667.
THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS (2000) DISCUSSION PAPER MEASURING SOCIAL CAPITAL: CURRENT COLLECTIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS. The Australian Bureau of Statistics.
THE CABINET OFFICE (2010) Government puts Big Society at heart of public sector reform http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2010/100518-news-big-society-launch.aspx. Accessed 1st Sept 2010.
TOLBERT, C. M., LYSON, T. A. & IRWIN, M. D. (1998) Local Capitalism, Civic Engagement, and Socioeconomic Well-Being. Social Forces, 77, 401-427.
TONES, K. & TILFORD, S. (2001) Health Promotion, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity, Cheltenham.
TURNER, C. (2010) Altogether Better Programme Evaluation Report 2009. DMSS Research and Consultancy.
USLANER, E. M. (2001) Social Capital and Participation in Everyday Life., London., Routledge.
WALKER, A. & COULTHARD, M. (2004) Developing and Understanding Indicators of Social Capital.   . IN MORGAN, A. & SWANN, C. (Eds.) Social Capital For Health: Issues of Definition, measurement, and links to Health. . London, NHS Health Development Agency.
WHITEHEAD, M. & DIDERICHSEN, F. (2001) Social capital and health: tip-toeing through the minefield of evidence. The Lancet, 358, 165-166.
WHO (2002) Community participation in local health and sustainable development. Approaches and techniques. . IN EUROPE., W. R. O. F. (Ed.) European Sustainable Development and Health Series No. 4. . WHO regional Office for Europe.
WHO (2006) What is the Evidence on effectiveness of empowerment to improve health? IN EUROPE, W. H. O. (Ed.) WHO Europe, Copenhagen. Copenhagen, World Health Organisation Europe.
WILKINSON, R. G. (1996) Unhealthy societies: the afflictions of inequality, London, Routledge.
WILKINSON, R. G. (2005) The impact of inequality: how to make sick societies healthier. , Abington: Routledge.
WILKINSON, R. G. & PICKETT, K. (2009) The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better, Allen Lane / Penguin Books.
WOODALL, J., RAINE, G., SOUTH, J. & WARWICK-BOOTH, L. (2010) Empowerment and Health & Well-being: Evidence Review. Centre for Health Promotion Research, Leeds Metropolitan University.
WOOLCOCK, M. (1998) Social Capital and Economic Development: Towards a Theoretical Synthesis and Policy Framework. Theory and Society, 2, 151 - 208.
WOOLCOCK, M. (2001) The place of social capital in Understanding Social and Economic Outcomes. Canadian Journal of Policy Research, 2, 11-17.


Friday, 26 July 2013

Life after my WCMT fellowship...

So what's been happening...?

Well, I left Altogether Better in March this year (funding for my post came to an end in 2013) and have since secured some freelance work with 3 different organisations. I've updated my linkedin profile for those who want to read more.

Am really pleased to be using the learning about ABCD from the WCMT fellowship in my freelance work with Cormac Russell at Nurture Development - still lots to learn from Cormac but great to be able to share some of what I found on my travels with folk back here in the UK. Even better still - I'm working with people in my home city and supporting Leeds City Council to develop asset based approaches to working with older people in 3 locations across the city.









Monday, 6 May 2013

Fellowship Report Recommendations - Social Capital and Well-being

Better late than never (!) - here are the conclusions and recommendations from my Fellowship report to WCMT. You can read the full report here:


a)     There is a need for a holistic approach to improved well-being which takes into account the wider social determinants of health. This requires partnership working across sectors (health, social care, housing, education) to avoid ‘silo’ working which can be issue specific. Community Health Centres in North America are one mechanism for the potential delivery of this.

b)    There are weaknesses associated with vertical health improvement activities focused on single lifestyle issues (e.g. smoking, obesity) in that they ignore the wider social determinants of health. To help reduce health inequalities, health improvement activities need to be as much about addressing the social and material circumstances in which people live as about addressing specific health needs. There is a need for greater emphasis on the importance of ‘place’ as where people live and work has a huge impact on health. A short film produced by Sudbury Community Health Unit in Ontario highlights the case in point[1].

c)     Addressing health and well-being needs requires an understanding of those factors which have an impact on health from a community perspective. This recognises that concepts of health and well-being differ in different communities. What communities need to stay healthy may be different and need to be explored and understood for interventions to be effective. There is a need to consider a process of identifying the indicators that impact on health and well-being through consultation with community members. An example of this is People Assessing Their Health (PATH) programme.

d)    There is a need to recognise and capitalise on the role of community assets in promoting well-being, particularly amongst those populations in most need. Many strengths and resources exist within all communities and are often unrecognised and ‘untapped’. Often the process of simply identifying assets in communities and individuals can lead to increased empowerment and recognition of what people can do for themselves. Examples of approaches which identify and mobilise assets include: Neighborhood Matching Fund (Seattle), Community Planning Teams (Ontario).

e)     Effectively engage with communities. Bringing community members together in forums such as Community Planning Teams (Ontario) and Community Action Teams (Seattle) are mechanisms for engaging with communities and identifying and mobilising individual and community assets which can serve to improve well-being and what communities can do for themselves to meet their needs with existing assets and resources.

f)     There is a strong rationale for involving people in health improvement activities and a clear link to the reduction of health inequalities. There are many models for involving communities in improving health and well-being via roles such as Community Health Champions, Peer Supporters Community Advocates (see section 3.4 for examples). These roles also are a potential vehicle for the building of social capital in communities.

g)    To better understand and articulate, ‘what works’ in addressing health inequalities, relevant evidence needs to be interpreted and communicated in an accessible and timely way to the right people. The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH)[2] in Canada translates and shares information and evidence about the social determinants of health with practitioners, policymakers and researchers with a view to improving practice and outcomes.

h)     Gardening projects have the potential to influence a range of health and well being outcomes;
·         Healthy eating – through growing and using and eating fresh produce.
·         Help reduce food poverty issues (Food Banks) and provide an income.
·         Physical Activity – Gardening can be hard work and requires physical excretion.
·         Mental Health – brings people together to work together and share skills and knowledge.
·         Gardens can be a social space for people to meet, use the produce, cook meals and build social capital.
i)      Language matters! When it comes to talking about health inequalities and disparities, the way concepts are framed is important, especially when targeting policy makers and funders. Talking about assets and ‘fairness’ and ‘opportunity’ can be more helpful than talking about ‘problems’ or ‘needs. Similarly, using the language of an asset based approach which talks of strengths instead of weaknesses, partners instead of consumers, collaborations instead of silo provision, abilities and capacities instead of disabilities, citizens instead of clients – can be empowering in itself.

j)      The recent focus on strong communities/networks and social capital as a key determinant of health should not be ignored. An outcome of ‘improved social capital’ could be a more explicit and central aim of funded projects and programmes aimed at reducing health inequalities. It is recognised that measurement of social capital indicators is not always straight forward but there are examples and tools we can learn from, including the Communities Count Partnership[3] in King County, Washington which measures a number of social capital indicators e.g. Participation in life enhancing activities, Social support, Neighborhood cohesion, Involvement in community organizations and Community service (volunteering).

k)     Funders and commissioners of health improvement activities should seek to:

·         encourage the identification and mobilizing of community assets
·         embed and promote the principles of community engagement in any new work
·         encourage building social capital as an aspect of any proposal

As an example, the criteria for funding applications to True Sport Foundation states that all projects should; i) Enhance a sense of belonging to the community, ii) Allow neighborhood residents to give back to the community (e.g. Volunteering); iii) Build skills, knowledge and ability to continue to strengthen the community in the future

l)      Good commissioning should engage with communities. Projects funded by the Neighborhood Matching Fund[4] (NMF) in Seattle are an example of good commissioning practice which engages communities. As a core criterion, the NMF require that all projects are: fun, engaging and empowering and reflect all sectors in the community (e.g. different age groups, ethnic groups, gender, locations, housing type). They must also encourage people to have access to the project planning process – not just the finished work.

m)   In the UK, many opportunities exist for advancing these ideas in the following areas:

  • Area based working & multi agency service planning which could provide a structure for asset based approaches.
  • More innovative commissioning & service delivery around the wellbeing agenda via Consortium of voluntary/community sector and Health and Well being Boards (HWBB).
  • ‘Localism’ which encourages disaggregated services and delivery down to neighbourhood level wherever possible.
  • Develop rich and vibrant JSNAs (Joint Strategic Needs Assessments) which offer a clear picture of the strengths and assets of communities rather than a description of the needs and problems. Consider the use of JSAAs - Joint Strategic Assets Assessments – instead.






[1] http://www.sdhu.com/content/healthy_living/doc.asp?folder=3225&parent=3225&lang=0&doc=11749#video
[2] http://www.nccdh.ca/
[3] http://www.communitiescount.org/
[4] http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/