Social Capital and Health

Social Capital and Health discusses social capital—a concept that originated in the social sciences—and its application to the field of public health. The editors take care to define the concept of social capital, describe its theoretical origins, and discuss the controversies and debates surrounding the use of the concept in public health research and practice. The book provides a comprehensive "tool kit" of current approaches to measure social capital. Further, the book surveys the empirical evidence linking social capital to physical and mental health outcomes, health-related behaviors (like smoking), and aging-related outcomes.

• Behavior
• Disaster Preparedness
• Economics
• Ethnography
• Health Communication
• Human Development
• Public Health
• communication

From the reviews:

"This edited book is designed to provide an up-to-date description of scholarly thinking about the concept of social capital and its relationships to health outcomes. … Public health students and researchers interested in social and behavioral predicates of health are the intended audience. … The chapter authors are published and knowledgeable in their respective areas. This book will provide students and academic researchers with a very good, up-to-date accounting of the state-of-the-field in thinking about and studying social capital and its relationship to health." (Anne B. Wallis, Doody’s Review Service, January 2008)

"The book consists of an introduction plus two large sections, the first on the measurement of social capital and the second on the evidence linking social capital to health. ... This book will be a useful reference for anyone interested in understanding and studying the many and complex ways in which social relationships may affect health." (Ana V. Diez Roux, American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 168, 2008)

• Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

  Ichiro Kawachi, S.V. Subramanian, Daniel Kim

Ichiro Kawachi is a Professor of Social Epidemiology in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also Director of the Harvard Center for Society and Health.  He has authored several books with Oxford University Press and New Press on society and health.

S.V. Subramanian is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.  He has a PhD in geography with specialization in multilevel statistical methods, and he also has a master's degree in the field of development studies.

Daniel Kim is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed residency training in community medicine at the University of Toronto. He also has a doctor of public health degree in social epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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