IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i16p5856-d398137.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Social Determinants of Health: Time to Re-Think?

Author

Listed:
  • John Frank

    (Director of Knowledge Exchange and Research Impact, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Room 1-308, Doorway #1, Teviot Hall, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK)

  • Thomas Abel

    (ISPM, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland)

  • Stefano Campostrini

    (Department of Economics, University Ca’ Foscari Venice, 30121 Venice, Italy)

  • Sarah Cook

    (Director, Institute for Global Development, University of New South Wales, John Goodsell Building, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Vivian K. Lin

    (Executive Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • David V. McQueen

    (ISPM, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland)

Abstract

Twelve years have now passed since the influential WHO Report on the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) in 2008. A group of senior international public health scholars and decision-makers met in Italy in mid-2019 to review the legacy of the SDoH conceptual framework and its adequacy for the many challenges facing our field as we enter the 2020s. Four major categories of challenges were identified: emerging “exogenous” challenges to global health equity, challenges related to weak policy and practice implementation, more fundamental challenges related to SDoH theory and research, and broader issues around modern research in general. Each of these categories is discussed, and potential solutions offered. We conclude that although the SDoH framework is still a worthy core platform for public health research, policy, and practice, the time is ripe for significant evolution.

Suggested Citation

  • John Frank & Thomas Abel & Stefano Campostrini & Sarah Cook & Vivian K. Lin & David V. McQueen, 2020. "The Social Determinants of Health: Time to Re-Think?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-8, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5856-:d:398137
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/16/5856/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/16/5856/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen P. Osborne, 2018. "From public service-dominant logic to public service logic: are public service organizations capable of co-production and value co-creation?," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 225-231, February.
    2. Louise Potvin, 2009. "Yes! More research is needed; but not just any research," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 54(3), pages 127-128, May.
    3. David McQueen, 2009. "Three challenges for the social determinants of health pursuit," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 54(1), pages 1-2, February.
    4. Pickett, Kate E. & Wilkinson, Richard G., 2015. "Income inequality and health: A causal review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-326.
    5. Sen, Amartya, 1999. "Commodities and Capabilities," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195650389.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kristan Elwell & Carolyn Camplain & Christine Kirby & Katharine Sanderson & Gloria Grover & Gerlinda Morrison & Amy Gelatt & Julie A. Baldwin, 2021. "A Formative Assessment of Social Determinants of Health Related to Early Childhood Caries in Two American Indian Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Tankut Atuk & Susan L Craddock, 2023. "Social pathologies and urban pathogenicity: Moving towards better pandemic futures," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(9), pages 1668-1689, July.
    3. Michelle M. Vine & Kate Mulligan & Rachel Harris & Jennifer L. Dean, 2023. "The Impact of Health Geography on Public Health Research, Policy, and Practice in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(18), pages 1-14, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kangmennaang, Joseph & Elliott, Susan J., 2018. "Towards an integrated framework for understanding the links between inequalities and wellbeing of places in low and middle income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 45-53.
    2. Seth Pollak & Barbara L. Wolfe, 2020. "How Developmental Neuroscience Can Help Address the Problem of Child Poverty," NBER Working Papers 26842, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kangmennaang, Joseph & Smale, Bryan & Elliott, Susan J., 2019. "‘When you think your neighbour's cooking pot is better than yours’: A mixed-methods exploration of inequality and wellbeing in Ghana," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    4. Thomas Abel, 2010. "Social determinants of health: working continuously towards change," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(4), pages 233-234, August.
    5. Spencer Moore, 2010. "From awareness to action on the social determinants of health," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(6), pages 521-522, December.
    6. Anna Fabry & Goedele Broeck & Miet Maertens, 2022. "Gender Inequality and Job Satisfaction in Senegal: A Multiple Mediation Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2291-2311, June.
    7. Prabhir Poruthiyil, 2013. "Weaning Business Ethics from Strategic Economism: The Development Ethics Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(4), pages 735-749, September.
    8. Kinghorn, Philip, 2019. "Using deliberative methods to establish a sufficient state of capability well-being for use in decision-making in the contexts of public health and social care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    9. Jitender Singh, 2016. "Quality of Public Goods, Public Policy and Human Development: A State-wise Analysis," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 10(2), pages 215-235, August.
    10. Oded Stark & Wiktor Budzinski, 2021. "A social‐psychological reconstruction of Amartya Sen’s measures of inequality and social welfare," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(4), pages 552-566, November.
    11. Yoshifusa Kitabatake, 2007. "Sen’s capability approach applied to the identification of new heritage value: empirical study on the effects of flood control project," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(4), pages 295-313, December.
    12. Xiaobao Li & Houchao Lyu, 2022. "Social Status and Subjective Well-Being in Chinese Adults: Mediating Effect of Future Time Perspective," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 2101-2116, August.
    13. McGrath, F.L. & Carrasco, L.R. & Leimona, B., 2017. "How auctions to allocate payments for ecosystem services contracts impact social equity," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 44-55.
    14. Zhang, Yingqiang & Eriksson, Tor, 2010. "Inequality of opportunity and income inequality in nine Chinese provinces, 1989-2006," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 607-616, December.
    15. Dyrstad, Karin & Halvorsen, Thomas & Hem, Karl-Gerhard & Rohde, Tarald, 2016. "Sick of waiting: Does waiting for elective treatment cause sickness absence?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(12), pages 1383-1388.
    16. Best, Bernadette & Miller, Kristel & McAdam, Rodney & Maalaoui, Adnane, 2022. "Business model innovation within SPOs: Exploring the antecedents and mechanisms facilitating multi-level value co-creation within a value-network," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 475-494.
    17. Jiahua PAN, 2017. "Implementation of the Targets Set in the Paris Agreement Through Transformative Development – Solution to the “Paradox of Al Gore”," Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies (CJUES), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(03), pages 1-11, September.
    18. Aydın, Cem İskender, 2020. "Nuclear energy debate in Turkey: Stakeholders, policy alternatives, and governance issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    19. Vu, Trung V., 2020. "Economic complexity and health outcomes: A global perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    20. Benoit Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "L'innovation dans les services publics à la lumière des paradigmes de l'administration publique et des perspectives des Service Innovation Studies," Working Papers halshs-01934287, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5856-:d:398137. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.