Resources

Interested in learning more about the social determinants of health? Here are some useful resources, including reports, organizations, and list-servs.

I. Reports and Websites of Interest

  • WHO Report "Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health", authored by the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health: Click Here
  • WHO website on the social determinants of health Click Here
  • WHO website on health impact assessments (HIAs) Click Here
  • CDC website on health impact assessments (HIAs) Click Here
  • Building Healthy Communities initiative: Click Here
  • Healthy Chicago 2.0: Click Here
  • The Compendium of Federal Datasets Addressing Health Disparties: Click Here

II. Selected Articles of Interest  

  • Galea & Link. Six paths for the future of social epidemiology. Am J Epidemiol. 2013;178(6):843-849.
  • Braveman. Health disparities and health equity: concepts and measurement. Annu. Rev. Public Health 27 (2006): 167-194
  • Diez Roux. Conceptual approaches to the study of health disparities. Ann Rev Public Health 2012;33: 41-58.
  • Krieger. Theories for social epidemiology in the 21st century: An ecosocial perspective. Int J Epidemiol. 2001; 30:668-677.
  • Lauderdale. Birth outcomes for Arabic-named women in California before and after September 11. Demography 2006;43(1):185-201.
  • Schroeder. We can do better – improving the health of the American people. NEJM. 2007;357:1221-8.
  • Abraido-Lanza, Echeverria, Florez. Latino Immigrants, Acculturation, and Health: Promising New Directions in Research. Annual Review of Public Health.2016.  37: 219-236
  • Jones, Truman, Elam-Evans, et al. Using "socially assigned race" to probe White advantages in health status. Ethn Dis. 2008;18(4):496-504.

III. Videos of Interest

  • Unnatural Causes: Click Here (note: you will need to enter your Emory credentials to view the video series)
  • Anthony Iton-Change the odds for health: Click Here
  • Sherman James and the John Henryism Hypothesis: Click Here

IV. Connect to Organizations that Address Major Social Factors Known to Affect Health

A. Social Justice and Public Health

Spirit of 1848

Shares postings on social justice & public health that provide a) information (e.g. about conferences or job announcements or publications relevant to and making explicit links between social justice & public health), and b) substantive queries or comments directly addressing issues relevant to and making explicit links between social justice and public health. To subscribe, send an email to spiritof1848-subscribe@yahoogroups.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Web page: www.spiritof1848.org.

B. Race, Racism, and Public Health

Colorlines

In its own words, "ColorLines … [is] building a home for journalism in service to racial justice". This is a great place to learn about current policies and social movements that may affect the public's health, including policies and social movements that may help eradicate or deepen racial/ethnic disparities in health. Go to http://colorlines.com/ for the general web-site, and go to http://www.arc.org/ for the Applied Research Center.

Kirwan Institute

In its own words, the Kirwan Institute "partners with people, communities, and institutions worldwide to think about, talk about, and engage issues of race and ethnicity in ways that create and expand opportunity for all". Like Colorlines, this is a fabulous place to learn more about policies and social movements that may affect health. The Institute's web-site also shares information on emerging research and action: http://www.kirwaninstitute.osu.edu.

Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC)

In its own words, PRRAC is a "civil rights policy organization convened by major civil rights and anti-poverty groups ... PRRAC's primary mission is to help connect social scientists with advocates working on race and poverty issues, and to promote a research-based advocacy strategy on issues of structural racial inequality". For general information and to sign up for news, go to: http://www.prrac.org/

C. Gender and Public Health

Emory Law School's Feminism and Legal Theory (FLT) project has the following aims:
  1. to support and encourage feminist scholarship on gender and legal equality issues that analyze the differential impact of law on women and men, and to consider also in this regard differences that exist or arise between differently situated women;
  2. to provide a forum within which feminist theorists can present their work and receive feedback from other scholars who share a common theoretical perspective and methodology; and
  3. to provide a means to introduce scholarship that applies feminist theory and methodology into legal debate, legislative reform movements, and the broader academic community through publication of the conference papers.

Learn more about FLT

D. Built Environment

Healthy Places Research Group (HPRG)

HPRG is a collaborative of the Rollins School of Public Health, the Georgia Tech College of Architecture, and the GA Tech Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development that explores and evaluates how we can develop, design, and build places that promote good health, support community values, and restore vitality to communities. Anyone interested in exploring the co-relationship between the built environment and the health of communities is welcome to participate. Healthy Places has a regular meeting schedule. To learn more about the group, go to https://cqgrd.gatech.edu/healthy-places-research-group

E. Governance, Human Rights, and Health

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Health Equity and Social Justice Program:

According to NACCHO materials, "NACCHO's Health Equity and Social Justice initiatives explore why certain populations bear a disproportionate burden of disease and mortality and what health departments can do to better address the causes of these inequities. The goal of NACCHO's Health Equity and Social Justice initiatives is to advance the capacity of local health departments (LHDs) to tackle the root causes of health inequities through public health practice and their organizational structure." To learn more, go to http://www.naccho.org/topics/justice/ .

Open Society Institute (OSI)

OSI describes itself as an institution that "… works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities." To learn more, go to https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/.

Human Rights Watch

In its own words, the agency "… is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all." To learn more, go to http://www.hrw.org/