Measuring social capital within health surveys: key issues

Measuring respiratory health in longitudinal social science surveys.

Objectively assessing respiratory health in longitudinal social science surveys would involve collecting pulmonary function measures on research participants, either in clinic settings or at home. These measures include indicators of volume (e.g., maximal amount of air blown in the first second of a forced exhalation) and airflow (maximal speed air is exhaled during a forced exhalation). Equipm...

Neighbourhood social capital: measurement issues and associations with health outcomes.

We compared ecometric neighbourhood scores of social capital (contextual variation) to mean neighbourhood scores (individual and contextual variation), using several health-related outcomes (i.e. self-rated health, weight status and obesity-related behaviours). Data were analysed from 5,900 participants in the European SPOTLIGHT survey. Factor analysis of the 13-item social capital scale reveal...

Social capital: a key factor in child health inequalities.

The widening gap in health outcomes between rich and poor is particularly evident among children and social inequalities in health are therefore of great concern to readers of this journal. Reducing inequalities in health is an important component of UK health policy.

Social capital : a key factor in child health inequalities

Accepted 1 September 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A lthough there is some research to suggest that we would all be happier and healthier if we lived in a society with narrower income differentials, 2 the obvious solution to this problem—redistributive fiscal policy—is still resisted by many Western governments. In these circumstances health policy tends to focus on ways of...

Social capital, economic capital and power: further issues for a public health agenda.