Social environment: key references and evidence

References

Note: this is not, and is not intended to be, a comprehensive list: it is merely a small selection of key references, the majority relating to the concept of so-called 'social capital'. Other relevant documents are cited in some of the reports/papers listed below. In addition, the key references sections of other parts of the website that relate to the social environment (e.g. education, ethnicity, crime) are also clearly relevant.

Note also that references specifically for social capital are available from the (archived but still accessible) ONS social capital project literature review

Catell V. Poor people, poor places, and poor health: the mediating role of social networks and social capital. Social Science & Medicine 2001; 52:1501-1516

FrameWorks Institute. A Matter of Life and Death: Explaining the Wider Determinants of Health in the UK. Washington, DC: FrameWorks Institute; 2022

Islam MK, Merlo J, Kawachi I, Lindström M, Gerdtham UG. Social capital and health: Does egalitarianism matter? A literature review. International Journal for Equity in Health 2006;5:3

Jenkinson C.E., Dickens A.P., Jones K. et al. Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers. BMC Public Health 2013; 13: 773

Marmot MG. Improvement of social environment to improve health. Lancet 1998; 351:57-60.

Marmot M, Wilkinson R (eds).The Social Determinants of Health. Oxford University Press, 1999.

Moore S, Kawachi I. Twenty years of social capital and health research: a glossary. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2017;71(5): 513-517.

Murayama H., Fujiwara Y., Kawachi I. Social capital and health: a review of prospective multilevel studies. Journal of Epidemiology 2012; 22(3): 179-187

Pearce N, Davey Smith G. Is social capital the key to inequalities in health? Am J Public Health 2003; 93 (1):122-9

Portes A. Social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology 1998;24:1-24.

Preda A, Voigt K. The Social Determinants of Health: Why Should We Care? The American Journal of Bioethics 2015; 15 (3): 25-36

Putnam, R. Bowling Alone - The Collapse and Revival of American Community New York: Simon & Schuster. 2000.

Stuckler D., King L., McKee M. Mass privatisation and the post-communist mortality crisis: a cross-national analysis. Lancet 2009; 373(9661): 399-407

Uphoff EP, Pickett KE, Cabieses B, Small N, Wright J. A systematic review of the relationships between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health: a contribution to understanding the psychosocial pathway of health inequalities. Int J Equity Health 2013; 12: 54. 

Villalonga-Olives E, Wind TR, Kawachi I. Social capital interventions in public health: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine 2018; 212: 203-218

Villalonga-Olives E, Kawachi I. The dark side of social capital: A systematic review of the negative health effects of social capital. Social Science & Medicine 2017; 194: 105-127

Whitehead, M. Diderichsen, F. Social capital and health: tip-toeing through the minefield of evidence. Lancet 2001, (358) 21:165-166

Wilkinson R., Marmot M. (eds). Social determinants of health - the solid facts. (500KB). World Health Organisation, 2003.

WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. World Health Organization, 2008.

Yen IH, Syme SL. The social environment and health: a discussion of the epidemiologic literature. Annu Rev Public Health 1999; 20:287-308. 

Effectiveness evidence

ScotPHO's purpose is to describe the pattern of health across the Scottish population. As a supplementary service to users, we include the following links to external sources of quality-assured evidence on effectiveness of interventions which may include relevant material for this topic. These links are provided as an aid to users. They are by no means exhaustive nor should they be necessarily viewed as authoritative.

Centre for Reviews and Dissemination

Cochrane Library: Browse by topic

EPPI-Centre: Evidence library

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance: Find guidance

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)