Health Equity: 08/19/11

Friday, August 19, 2011

[EQ] Complex problems require complex solutions: the utility of social quality theory for addressing the Social Determinants of Health

Complex problems require complex solutions:
the utility of social quality theory for addressing the Social Determinants of Health

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

Available online at: bit.ly/pMOKs3

“…….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…………”

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[EQ] Health and Economic Development -Evidence from the Introduction of Public Health Care

Health and Economic Development
Evidence from the Introduction of Public Health Care

Anthony Strittmatter, Uwe Sunde

University of St.Gallen, and Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg.

University of St. Gallen, IZA Bonn, and CEPR, London.

August 2011 Discussion Paper no. 2011-32

School of Economics and Political Science - Department of Economics - University of St. Gallen

Available online PDF [56p.] at: http://bit.ly/nUQoop

“…..This paper investigates the causal effect of changes in health on economic development using a long panel of European countries. Identification is based on the particular timing of the introduction of public health care systems in different countries, which is the random outcome of a political process. We document that the introduction of public health care systems had a significant immediate effect on the dynamics of infant mortality and crude death rates.

The findings suggest that a reduction in infant mortality or crude death rates exhibited a positive effect on growth in income per capita and increased population growth….”

“……This paper has applied a novel identification strategy based on the timing of the implementation of a universal public health system to estimate the causal effect of mortality changes on economic growth and population growth.

The results indicate that a reduction in mortality accelerates growth of income per capita and population size. The results reconcile earlier findings in the literature by documenting a positive effect of mortality reductions on growth based on an identification strategy that exploits within-country over-time variation, suggesting that the discrepancies in earlier findings might be the result of differences in sample composition, rather than identification method. Moreover, our results suggest that public health policy plays a potentially important role for economic development.

Naturally, there are caveats to our analysis that need to be taken into account when interpreting our results. First, the findings are based on a small sample, with the identifying variation stemming from European countries in the late 19^th and early 20th Century. As in previous studies, sample composition might affect the generality and external validity of our results…………”

[EQ] ILO - Freedom of Association and Development

Freedom of Association and Development

ILO - International Labour Organization 2011

Available online PDF [80p.] at: http://bit.ly/qS6sLZ

“…..Freedom of association is a cornerstone of the ILO’s approach to development through decent work; namely, ensuring that all men and women have the ability to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

In the ILO’s 2008 Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalisation, freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining were described as important pre-conditions for the attainment of decent work, which is now recognised as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG1), the international community’s blueprint for development.

Freedom of association refers to the right of workers and employers to create and join organisations of their choice freely and without fear of reprisal or interference. This includes the right to establish and affiliate to confederations and international organisations.

Linked to freedom of association is the right to collective bargaining, which allows workers to negotiate their working conditions freely with their employers. These rights are universal and apply irrespective of race, creed, religion, gender, occupation, nationality or political opinion. They apply to all workers and employers, including those in the informal economy who don’t usually have formal contracts of employment…..”

“…The final section of the publication considers how important stakeholders, including governments, trade unions, employers’organisations and international development actors, can promote respect for freedom of association and ensure that it results in fuller economic and social development….”

Content:

1. Introduction

What is freedom of association?

Why is freedom of association important for development?

What are the challenges?

What does this guide aim to contribute?

2. Inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction

Employment and labour market development

Fairer income distribution

Addressing inequality and social disadvantage

Listening to labour and business in the informal economy

Case Studies

Organising Informal Traders in Ghana

Organising workers in the informal economy in rural India

3. A positive business environment

Freedom of association and economic competitiveness

Better dispute resolution and reduced conflict

Productivity improvements

Skills development and training

Health and safety

Case Studies

HERO supermarkets: the benefits of good faith

Partnership for developing human resources: joint MESS-Turk Metal Training Project

Unionisation and Growth in Tarkwa Gold Mine: Ghana Mine

Workers’ Union and Goldfields Lt

4. Cooperation in times of crisis in times of crisis

National crisis measures

Collective negotiations

Responsible restructuring

Case Studies

Singapore: crisis recovery through tripartite cooperation

Crisis response in Chile

5. Strengthening democracy and governance

Strengthening public participation in policy processes

Participation in national development programming

Contributing to democratic transition

Building support for democracy at every level

Case Studies

Democratic transition in Poland

Ghana Trade Union Congress: Contributing to national policy debates

6. Challenges and opportunities: the role of governments, trade unions and employers

Governments

Workers’ and employers’ organisations

International development actors

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